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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 


FIRST  AVENUE,  LOOKING  EAST 


THE  BOOK  OF 

BIRMINGHAM 

BY 

JOHN  R.  HORNADY 

ILLUSTRATIONS  BY 

W.  Paul  Pim 

frontispiece  by 
Roderick  D.  MacKenzie 


NEW  YORK 

DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY 

1921 


COPYEIGHT,  1921,  BY 
DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY,  INC. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    In  the  Beginning 1 

II    When  Everybody  Voted 19 

III  The  ''  Double-Cross  ''  in  the  Seventies    31 

IV  Courting  the  Bauble  Fame 44 

V  Iron  and  Steel  to  the  Kescue  ....    56 

VI  KoY  Cohen's  Negro  Quarter    ....    68 

VII    Visions  of  Beauty 86 

VIII    The  People  at  Play 100 

IX    Grave  and  Gay  in  Politics 114 

X    Turning  Ore  into  Ships 130 

XI  Conserving  the    Human  Element     .     .  145 

XII    Iron  for  the  Confederacy 161 

XIII  Popularizing  the  Water  Wagon    .     .     .  179 

XIV  The  Sway  of  King  Cotton 197 

XV    Blazing  New  Trails 213 

XVI  Reforming  the  Public  Dollar  ....  228 

XVII  Routing  the  Reluctant  Germ  ....  240 

XVIII    Freaks  of  Fretful  Nature 255 

XIX     The  Teeth  of  a  Child 270 

XX    Aladdin's  Lamp  Surpassed 283 

XXI    Far-Flung  Influences 299 

XXII    Whetting  the  Intellect 315 

XXIII    A  City  of  Ex-Executives 328 

XXIV  The  Snake-Charmer  Eclipsed  ....  346 

XXV  Combining  Loans  with  Laughter      .    .  363 


550546 


ILLUSTRATIONS 
First  Avenue,  looking  East Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Wire  Mill :  Recreation,  beauty,  utility 24 

Concrete  work  in  mine 36 

Children  of  the  mines  perform 48 

By-product  coke  ovens:  Plant  in  background     .     .     60 
The  sky  line :  Red  Mountain  in  the  background  .     .     76 

A  vista  from  Red  Mountain 92 

"Where  children  make  merry  —  City  Park      .     .     .  106 

A  view  from  the  Highlands 120 

Steamship  fabricated  in  Birmingham 136 

Homes  of  miners  in  modern  village 152 

Modern  pig  iron  plant 168 

Homes  on  the  mountainside 186 

World's  largest  rotary  coal  pump 204 

World's  largest  lake  of  pitch 204 

Underground  electric  railway 218 

Typical  South  side  homes 232 

Central  hospital,  Tennessee  Company 246 

School  and  club  house  in  mining  village     ....  262 
By-product  plant.     Naval  air  craft  just  leaving  .     .  290 

Limestone,  ore  and  coke  furnace 306 

Science  Hall,  Birmingham  Southern  College  .     .     .  320 
Two  views  from  the  sky.     Terminal  station  in  center 

of  lower  picture 336 

Civic  Centre,  Fairfield 354 

Rear  view  of  Highland  homes 368 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 


CHAPTER  I 


IN  THE  BEGINNING 

THE  stupendous  assurance  of  those  adven- 
turous spirits  who  founded  the  town  of 
Birmingham  half  a  century  ago  is  the  most 
amazing  thing  ahout  the  beginning  of  this,  the 
South 's  most  populous  post-bellum  community. 

With  a  series  of  indifferent  farms  to  start  with, 
they  planned  a  vast  metropoUs.  The  sky  and  the 
horizon  were  their  limits,  and  they  laid  the  founda- 
tions accordingly. 

If  one  can  visualize  a  long  and  tortuous  valley, 
traversed  by  meandering  streams  which  left  their 
banks  and  wandered  far  afield  whenever  the  rains 
descended,  one  can  appreciate  something  of  the 
faith  as  well  as  the  vision  of  the  men  to  whom  the 

[1  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

city  of  today  owes  its  being.  Were  you  or  I  to 
found  a  city  doubtless  we  should  conclude  that  it 
would  be  a  good  idea  to  keep  its  feet  out  of  the 
mud.  But  not  so  with  these  men.  They  knew 
where  they  wanted  the  city,  and  the  fact  that  its 
people  would  have  to  fight  their  way  to  success 
through  seas  of  liquid  earth  hindered  them  no  whit. 
Perhaps  they  reasoned  that  the  deeper  the  mud 
the  quicker  the  paving  would  materialize.  At  any 
rate,  they  went  forward  with  their  plans.  And 
\\ith  what  magnificence  they  did  their  work !  With 
them  every  gesture  was  a  full-arm  movement. 

In  that  valley  where  stood  a  single  blacksmith 
shop,  they  laid  out  a  colossus ;  a  city  whose  dream 
streets  echoed  to  the  traffic  of  a  vast  metropolis 
and  whose  fanciful  squares  w^ere  filled  vnth  tower- 
ing structures  where  vibrated  the  restless  pulse  of 
giants  in  action. 

There  were  no  railroads  to  serve  the  commerce 
in  this  city,  no  traffic  for  streetis,  no  furnaces  nor 
factories  nor  buildings  of  whatsoever  kind  to  grace 
the  splendid  squares.  But  these  pioneers  foresaw 
the  coming  of  all  these  things  and  they  demon- 
strated the  sublime  character  of  their  faith  by  the 
divine  excellence  of  their  work. 

Hence  it  is  that  Birmingham,  entering  into  its 
own  as  one  of  the  great  industrial  centers  of  the 
world,  has  no  such  problems  as  confront  those  all 

[  2  ] 


IN  THE  BEGINNING 

too  numerous  American  cities  which  grew  hap- 
hazard along  irregular  highways  and  by-ways,  to 
find  too  late  that  streets  and  avenues,  which  served 
well  enough  in  the  days  of  the  ox-cart,  are  wholly 
inadequate  to  accommodate  the  traffic  of  a  twen- 
tieth century  metropolis. 

For  the  vision  which  gave  Birmingham  wide 
thoroughfares,  its  people  should  ever  be  grateful. 
It  was  a  stroke  of  genius  that  should  immortahze 
the  men  who  could  visualize  a  city  where  stood 
a  lonely  shack. 

In  what  was  to  be  the  business  section  of  this 
dream  city,  they  laid  out  a  great  checker-board, 
streets  running  toward  the  hills  and  avenues  par- 
alleling the  valley.  Later  they  approached  the 
hills  and  there  performed  new  marvels.  Follow- 
ing the  contour  of  Red  Mountain  on  the  South,  an 
avenue  was  designed  that  for  years  has  ranked 
among  the  most  wonderful  thoroughfares  in 
America.  Winding  in  and  out  and  doubling  back 
at  times,  it  presents  an  ever  changing  vista  that  is 
a  source  of  lasting  joy  to  home  folks  and  a  delight- 
ful surprise  to  every  visitor.  Flanked  by  hand- 
some residences,  and  well  groomed  lawns,  and 
arched  by  beautiful  trees,  Highland  Avenue  ranks 
among  the  really  great  thoroughfares  of  the  world, 
and  there  are  others !  Becoming  more  ambitious, 
the  builders  of  Birmingham  pushed  their  serpen- 

[  3  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

tine  highways  to  the  very  crest  of  the  mountain, 
and  as  one  traverses  these  swift  ascending  avenues 
he  is  treated  to  a  magnificent  view  of  the  great 
panorama  stretched  out  in  the  valley  below. 
Upon  the  crest  of  Red  Mountain  these  avenues 
twine  in  and  out  and  present  vistas  such  as  thrill 
the  artist  soul.  Those  who  enter  the  city  below; 
under  the  impression  that  it  is  a  mining  camp  are 
fairly  staggered  by  the  beauty  and  charm  of  these 
highways  and  by  the  evidence  on  every  hand  of 
a  delightful  home  life. 

But  this  is  getting  a  long  way  ahead  of  the  story, 
and  we  should  leave  the  asphalt  of  today  and 
return  for  a  little  while  to  the  mud  of  yesteryear 
if  we  would  learn  something  of  the  characteristics 
of  the  to^Ti  in  its  beginning.  Tough !  Birmingham 
was  all  of  that.  No  sooner  had  the  far-seeing 
pioneers  who  laid  the  foundations  of  the  city 
gotten  the  community  under  way  than  adventurous 
spirits  were  attracted  from  the  far  corners  of  the 
earth,  and  here  were  enacted  just  such  scenes  as 
were  witnessed  in  the  mining  camps  of  California 
during  the  great  gold  rush.  Came  liquor,  came 
liquor  consumers.  Came  guns  and  men  who  knew 
how  to  use  them.  Came  a  little  law  and  much 
lawlessness,  and  came  the  time  when  the  new-bom 
city  attained  a  national  reputation,  not  so  much 
for  the  magnitude  of  its  natural  resources  as  for 

[4  ] 


IN  THE  BEGINNING 

the  carelessness  with  which  many  of  its  adven- 
turous citizens  handled  their  weapons.  *'Bad 
Birmingham ' '  is  the  title  the  city  won,  and  it  was 
by  this  title  that  it  became  known  far  and  wide. 

The  boom  spirit  was  at  its  height,  with  specula- 
tion running  rife  and  the  gambling  fever  permeat- 
ing the  very  atmosphere.  Men  rushing  about 
eager  to  turn  a  dazzling  profit  over  night  had  no 
time  for  judicial  procedure  when  friction  arose. 
Fights  and  fatalities  were  numerous.  Speculation 
and  gambling  put  much  money  in  circulation  and 
crooks  came  in  who  got  theirs  at  the  point  of  a 
revolver.  Discreet  men  in  going  homeward 
at  night  took  the  middle  of  the  street.  Alley 
corners  offered  too  much  danger  from  the  lurking 
thug. 

Stock  exchanges  had  been  established  and  here 
holdings  of  all  kinds  were  traded  in,  stock  in  boom 
companies  being  a  favorite  offering.  In  the  midst 
of  the  excitement,  a  firm  from  New  Orleans  came 
in  and  opened  an  all-night  cafe,  where  liquors 
flowed  as  freely  as  in  any  Parisian  establishment 
of  its  kind.  Birmingham  ceased  to  sleep,  and  the 
morning  paper  carried  the  story  of  some  night- 
time tragedy  in  almost  every  issue. 

But  these  violent  expressions  of  a  turbulent 
spirit  were  largely  surface.  The  real  men  of  the 
community,  the  men  who  were  here  to  do  a  man's 

[  5  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

work  because  there  was  a  man's  job  at  hand, 
brought  with  them  thB  idealist's  conception  of  jus- 
tice and  equity  and  morals.  They  held  the  strong 
man's  contempt  for  the  lurking  thug  and  the  cow- 
ardly assassin,  and  gradually  the  spirit  of  lawless- 
ness broke  its  wings  against  the  granite  of  their 
character.  Came  the  time  when  the  last  man- 
Mller  was  exiled  or  hanged  or  imprisoned,  when 
the  last  brothel  was  wiped  out,  when  the  last  gilded 
palace  of  cock-tails,  cards  and  crookedness  went 
by  the  board. 

The  swing  of  the  pendulum  was  far.  From 
being  a  very  bad  tovra,  Birmingham  became  an 
exception  among  American  cities  in  wholesome 
observance  of  the  decencies  of  life.  Here  the 
saloons  went  long  before  national  prohibition  be- 
came a  fact.  Here  was  built  up  a  religious  and 
moral  sentiment  which  today  finds  expression  in 
a  demand  for  clean  amusements,  in  churches  that 
are  filled  on  Sabbath  morning,  in  men's  Sunday 
School  classes  that  run  into  the  hundreds,  and  in 
a  firm  insistence  upon  law  enforcement. 

That  Birmingham  has  grown  in  beauty,  in  intel- 
ligence, in  morals  and  in  religion  as  it  has  grown 
industrially  and  commercially  is  one  of  the  most 
outstanding  facts  about  the  community. 

Birmingham  has  year  after  year  the  largest 
Bible  Training  School  in  the  world,  and  it  was 

[  6  ] 


IN  THE  BEGINNING 

here  that  the  movement  for  training  schools  of  this 
character,  now  nation-wide,  received  its  initial 
impetus. 

It  was  in  Birmingham  that  the  Laymen  ^s  Mis- 
sionary Movement  was  made  electrical,  the  first 
great  convention  being  held  in  this  city.  More- 
over, there  is  substantial  foundation  for  the  claim 
that  Birmingham  gave  to  prohibition  much  of  the 
impetus  which  finally  swept  the  nation  into  the  dry 
column.  In  other  words,  the  reform  of  Birming- 
ham seems  to  have  been  just  about  as  complete  as 
such  reforms  get  to  be,  and  the  measure  of  her 
goodness  furnishes  an  excellent  idea  of  the  size 
her  aching  head  must  have  been  when  she  raised 
her  right  hand  to  high  heaven,  after  one  of  those 
old  orgies,  and  solemnly  exclaimed  **  Never 
again!" 

Another  thing  that  might  be  said  of  Birming- 
ham :  in  spite  of  its  hectic  record  in  the  early  days, 
there  has  never  been  a  lynching  in  this  community, 
nor  has  it  known  the  turmoil  of  a  race  riot,  though 
forty  per  cent  of  its  population  is  colored. 

The  only  serious  attempt  to  lynch  a  person  in 
this  city  was  made  by  a  white  mob  which  sought 
the  life  of  a  white  prisoner.  And  it  was  a  dark 
and  tragic  hour,  yet  pregnant  with  the  germ  of 
lasting  peace. 

The  prisoner  whose  life  was  sought  by  this  mob 
[7  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

was  Dick  Hawes,  who  had  killed  his  wife  and  two 
children  that  he  might  be  free  to  marry  again. 
After  the  commission  of  the  crime,  he  did  marry, 
and  was  on  his  wedding  tour  when  apprehended 
and  jailed  in  Birmingham. 

Indignation  over  the  brutal  and  cold-blooded 
crime  was  universal,  and  the  crowd  which  marched 
to  the  jail  expected  to  get  the  prisoner  without 
formidable  resistance,  as  so  many  mobs  had  suc- 
ceeded in  doing  on  similar  occasions  in  other 
Southern  communities.  But  the  blunder  which 
led  the  gallant  Six  Hundred  to  slaughter  was  not 
greater  than  the  blunder  of  those  who  stormed  the 
jail,  for  the  sheriff  who  defended  it  had  a  rare 
conception  of  the  meaning  of  the  oath  he  had 
assumed.  He  believed  the  oath  meant  what  it 
said  and  he  governed  himself  accordingly.  The 
shots  he  poured  into  that  mldly  excited  mass  of 
humanity  were  real  and  were  meant  to  kill,  and 
they  did  kill.  They  killed  members  of  the  storm- 
ing party,  and  more.  They  killed  forever  the  mob 
spirit  in  Birmingham. 

In  due  time  Hawes  was  tried,  convicted  and 
hanged,  and  this  orderly  procedure  has  been  the 
fixed  rule  in  handling  criminals  from  that  day  to 
this. 

The  sheriff  who  put  an  end  to  mob  violence  by 
his  drastic  action  upon  this  occasion  was  Joseph 

[  8  ] 


IN  THE  BEGINNING 

Smith,  popularly  known  as  ^ ^Little  Joe  Smith." 
His  course  subjected  him  to  much  abuse,  and  for 
a  time  he  was  in  danger  of  personal  violence  at 
the  hands  of  some  hot-headed  citizens,  but  when 
the  community  had  recovered  from  the  shock  occa- 
sioned by  the  fact  that  several  prominent  citizens, 
who  were  mere  spectators,  were  either  killed  or 
wounded,  the  attitude  of  the  public  altered,  and  in 
after  years  he  was  given  credit  for  having  done 
a  good  w^ork  in  letting  it  be  known  that  men 
charged  with  crime  would  be  protected,  and  that 
attempts  to  impede  the  orderly  processes  of  the 
law  were  fraught  with  great  danger. 

There  was  something  fresh  and  boyish  and 
exuberant  about  that  little  coterie  of  men  who 
founded  Birmingham.  'V\^iile  they  were  in  dead 
earnest  about  building  a  city  in  the  valley  of  their 
selection,  they  had  a  keen  sense  of  humor.  They 
did  not  take  themselves  nor  their  job  too  seriously. 
For  confirmation  consider  their  attitude  toward 
the  rough  shack  in  which  they  lived  while  surveys 
were  being  made  for  the  city  that  was  tucked 
away  in  the  back  of  their  heads.  Built  of  rough 
pine  boards,  nailed  upright  upon  rough  timbers, 
this  long,  low  shack  was  dubbed  the  St.  Nicholas 
Hotel,  receiving  this  title  because  no  name  more 
high-sounding  suggested  itself.  Until  the  coming 
of  real  hotels,  this  establishment  housed  a  group 

[  9  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

of  men  who   afterward  became   famous   in   the 
annals  of  the  community. 

Prior  to  the  opening  of  this  temporary  refuge, 
the  only  hotel  accommodations  available  were  in 
Old  Elyton,  then  the  county  site,  some  two  miles 
from  the  new  town.  Of  these  hotels.  Colonel 
James  R.  Powell,  the  moving  spirit  in  the  founding 
of  the  new  city,  and  who  af  tenvards  became  known 
as  **The  Duke  of  Birmingham,"  dropped  this  per- 
tinent observation:  *^They  are  like  the  roads  in 
Arkansas,  whichever  one  you  take  you  wish  to 
h —  you  had  taken  the  other. '  ^ 

It  was  at  one  of  these  ancient  hotels  in  Elyton 
that  Major  James  Thomas,  after  whom  the  great 
Thomas  furnaces  are  named,  stepped  upon  first 
entering  the  valley.  He  was  suffering  from  a 
severe  headache  at  the  time  and  told  the  negro 
boy  to  bring  him  a  cup  of  hot  tea.  The  negro 
reported  presently  with  an  evil  looking  brew  that 
was  so  suggestive  of  lye  that  Mr.  Thomas  asked : 

**What  in  the  world  is  this?  I  told  you  to  get 
me  tea.'' 

*'Boss,  that's  tea,"  said  the  negro  in  a  tone 
which  indicated  that  he  had  rather  a  poor  opinion 
of  the  gentleman's  power  of  perception. 

*'Well,  what  kind  of  tea  is  it?"  asked  Mr. 
Thomas. 

** Sassafras  tea,"  replied  the  darky. 
[  10  ] 


IN  THE  BEGINNING 

*'Take  it  away,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Thomas,  **I 
want  real  tea  and  no  cheap  imitation.'' 

^'Then  why  didn't  you  say  you  wanted  store- 
bought  tea,"  exclaimed  the  boy  in  fretful  tones, 
*^and  I'd  a  done  gone  and  got  it  for  you!" 

In  those  days  ^^store-bought"  tea  was  a  luxury 
in  this  isolated  valley,  and  such  as  trickled  in  had 
come  a  weary  distance.  The  Panama  Canal, 
destined  to  bring  the  Eastern  world  thousands  of 
miles  nearer  to  the  New,  was  then  no  more  than  a 
subject  of  desultory  conversation,  and  it  did  not 
enter  into  the  minds  of  the  founders  of  Birming- 
ham that  one  day  the  East  would  be  drawn  so  near 
their  young  city,  nor  did  they  realize  the  tremen- 
dous significance  such  a  development  would  have 
upon  the  community.  They  builded  better  than 
they  knew,  for  today  the  buyer  from  the  under 
world  who  comes  to  market  through  the  Panama 
Canal  must  pass  Birmingham  long  before  he  can 
reach  any  other  center  where  the  products  of  a 
great  industrial  community  are  available.  In 
locating  their  little  shop  to  catch  the  trade  of  the 
world,  these  pioneers  placed  it  where  the  Eastern 
and  the  Southern  buyer  would  have  to  go  much 
farther  if  they  passed  their  open  door,  after  com- 
ing into  the  Atlantic. 

It  is  doubtful  also  if  the  founders  of  Birmingham 
realized  the  full  significance  of  the  fact  that  the 

[  11  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

city  was  planted  witliin  thirty  miles  of  the  AVarrior 
River,  a  stream  impossible  for  navigation  at  that 
time  and  which  few  dreamed  would  some  day  be- 
come the  means  of  conveying  Birmingham  products 
to  the  ends  of  the  world.  Today  Birmingham  has 
a  port  upon  this  stream  and  tea  coming  in  from 
China  or  steel  going  out  to  Japan,  may  go  all  the 
way  by  water.  Because  of  this  fact,  Birmingham 
enjoys  a  water  rate,  just  as  if  the  river  flowed 
through  the  heart  of  the  city. 

The  first  real  hotel  erected  in  Birmingham  was 
known  as  the  Relay  House,  not  because  its  guests 
slept  in  relays,  as  became  the  custom  at  some 
hotels  during  the  boom,  but  because  of  its  prox- 
imity to  the  railroads,  which  by  this  time  had 
pushed  their  way  into  the  town.  Early  registers 
of  this  hotel,  still  in  existence,  contain  the  names 
of  many  great  figures  in  the  financial  and  indus- 
trial world,  who  came  from  time  to  time  to  see  for 
themselves  how  much  of  fact  and  how  much  of 
fiction  was  contained  in  the  A^ddely  published 
stories  of  Birmingham's  natural  wealth. 

The  rush  for  the  new  town  was  under  way  be- 
fore adequate  accommodations  could  be  provided, 
and  small  hotels  and  rooming  houses  sprang  up 
on  all  sides.  Some  of  these  contained  large 
'* wards'*  in  which  numerous  beds  were  crowded, 
and  it  was  the  usual  custom  to  pull  one  set  of 

[  12  ] 


IN  THE  BEGINNING 

guests  out  early  in  the  morning  in  order  that 
others,  who  had  been  waiting  around  all  night, 
might  get  some  sleep.  Thus  the  beds  were  made 
to  do  double  duty  while  the  thrifty  landlord  waxed 
prosperous. 

To  the  enterprise  of  the  management  of  one  of 
these  early  hotels  was  due  the  first  sidewalk  laid 
in  Birmingham.  David  Bridges,  who  after  a  lapse 
of  fifty  years  still  stands  behind  a  Birmingham 
hotel  register,  found  that  the  guests  of  1872  were 
a  bit  hesitant  about  coming  to  his  hotel  on  account 
of  the  sea  of  mud  that  oozed  between  its  hospitable 
portals  and  the  shack  which  did  duty  as  a  depot, 
put  down  a  three-foot  walk  to  meet  the  whims  of 
this  element.  The  walk  was  held  to  a  width  of 
three  feet  on  account  of  the  excessive  cost  of  lum- 
ber, and  was  in  no  sense  a  vote  of  confidence  in 
the  ability  of  the  guests  to  always  walk  the  straight 
and  narrow  path. 

In  the  absence  of  railroad  transportation,  the 
gentlemen  who  created  Birmingham  on  paper  had 
considerable  difficulty  in  getting  a  substantial 
start  toward  the  realization  of  their  aspirations, 
since  lumber  and  brick  are  essential  factors  in  city 
building.  However,  they  found  two  brick  manu- 
facturers who  were  willing  to  establish  plants  in 
the  community  if  guaranteed  an  output  of  a  mil- 
lion bricks  each,  and  thereupon  a  bold  policy  was 

[  13  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

adopted.  It  was  determined  that  no  building  less 
than  two  stories  should  be  erected  in  the  main 
business  district,  and  that  these  buildings  must  be 
of  brick.  Not  only  so,  but  it  was  stipulated  that 
all  purchasers  of  business  lots  should  be  required 
to  build  within  twelve  months. 

Thus  the  problem  of  building  material  was 
solved  by  making  brick  contracts,  and  the  sale  of 
the  brick  was  assured  by  rigid  restrictions  as  to 
time  and  material.  That  is  to  say,  the  problem 
was  solved  if  the  tiny  segments  of  farm  land  these 
pioneers  had  platted  and  called  *^lots"  could  be 
sold,  which  was  a  matter  of  sheer  speculation  at 
the  time.  When  certain  of  these  lots,  measuring 
fifty  by  one  hundred  feet,  actually  were  sold  for  as 
much  as  one  hundred  dollars  each,  one  old-timer 
was  heard  to  remark  that  he  knew  of  no  specula- 
tion that  equaled  bujdng  farms  by  the.  acre  and 
selling  them  by  the  foot.  His  admiration  for  the 
genius  of  the  men  who  could  put  over  such  a  thing 
was  boundless,  but  he  had  a  very  poor  opinion  of 
those  who  surrendered  good  money  for  the  lots. 

The  land  that  brought  this  seemingly  prepos- 
terous price  as  **city  property"  was  bought  from 
the  native  farmers  on  a  basis  of  $25  in  cash  for 
two-thirds  of  their  holdings,  and  $50  in  stock  for 
the  remaining  one-third.  Four  thousand  acres 
were  bought  upon  this  basis,  and  the  stock  involved 

[  34  ] 


IN  THE  BEGINNING 

became  the  foundation  of  numerous  fortunes,  as  it 
grew  in  value  at  a  most  astonishing  rate  with  the 
development  of  the  city.  In  fact  the  story  of  the 
dividend  payments  of  that  pioneer  organization, 
known  as  the  Elyton  Land  Company,  has  all  the 
elements  of  a  Jules  Verne  romance.  From  $100, 
those  lots  leaped  into  the  thousands  within  a  few 
years,  and  many  small  investors  found  themselves 
possessed  of  undreamed  wealth. 

But  it  would  be  erroneous  to  imagine  that  this 
golden  stream  of  wealth  flowed  in  at  once  or  that 
its  course  was  uninterrupted.  It  was  not  all  smooth 
sailing  with  those  bold  architects  of  an  industrial 
empire.     They  received  their  bumps.     Yea,  verily ! 

Chartered  in  December,  1871,  the  new  town  grew 
with  extraordinary  rapidity,  and  its  promoters 
decided  that  the  time  was  ripe  for  a  great  ingath- 
ering. To  this  end  a  campaign  remarkable  both 
in  its  boldness  and  its  ingenuity  was  launched; 
this  with  a  view  to  holding  a  great  sale  of  lots  on 
June  17,  1873. 

Colonel  Powell  had  all  the  genius  of  the  old- 
time  circus  promoter  when  it  came  to  exploitation, 
and  one  of  his  master  strokes  was  to  invite  the 
New  York  Press  Association  to  meet  in  Birming- 
ham in  connection  with  the  Alabama  Press  Asso- 
ciation, which  had  been  induced  to  come  here.  He 
urged  the  wonders  of  the  new  town  mth  such  elo- 

[  15  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

quence  that  a  number  of  New  York  correspondents 
actually  were  sent  to  investigate  its  possibilities. 
They  were  astonished  at  the  absence  of  anything 
that  looked  like  a  city,  but  were  profoundly  im- 
pressed by  the  show  of  coal  and  iron,  and  they 
sent  back  glo^\ing  stories  of  Birmingham's  natural 
resources. 

Follo^ving  this  an  intensive  advertising  cam- 
paign was  adopted,  the  story  of  its  material  wealth 
being  carried  to  all  parts  of  the  United  States  and 
to  the  Old  World  as  well.  After  months  of  such 
exploitation,  the  promoters  succeeded  in  creating 
widespread  interest  in  their  enterprise,  and  the 
outlook  appeared  most  propitious.  But  just  as 
the  dream  of  an  immense  throng  and  an  immense 
sale  of  lots  was  about  to  be  realized,  the  heavens 
became  overcast  and  presently  nature  was  engaged 
in  giving  a  fine  imitation  of  the  flood  which  sent 
Noah  scurr^dng  to  the  Ark.  It  rained  for  several 
weeks  and  such  transportation  facilities  as  existed, 
limited  at  best,  were  so  interrupted  that  it  became 
necessaiy  to  call  off  the  sale.  This  was  bump 
No.  1,  and,  alas,  the  worst  was  yet  to  come. 

In  July,  1873,  cholera,  which  had  appeared  at 
several  points  in  the  South,  invaded  the  town  of 
Birmingham  and  withered  it,  not  so  much  because 
of  the  ravages  of  the  disease  as  because  of  the 
wildly  exaggerated  reports  that  were  circulated. 

[  16  ] 


IN  THE  BEGINNING 

^'Birmingham  wiped  out''  was  a  familiar  head- 
line, and  it  took  the  community  years  to  recover 
from  the  injurious  effects. 

Swift  upon  the  heels  of  this  disaster  came  the 
Jay  Cooke  panic,  the  baleful  effects  of  which  were 
being  felt  throughout  the  nation  in  the  fall  and 
winter  of  1873. 

These  staggering  disasters  left  many  empty 
houses  in  Birmingham  and  many  hearts  were  sick, 
but  hope  and  faith  and  the  purpose  to  achieve  sur- 
vived. Having  put  their  hands  to  the  plow,  the 
little  group  which  had  planted  the  town  refused  to 
turn  back.  There  is  nothing  finer  in  the  annals 
of  community  building  than  the  courage  with  which 
they  fought  to  make  good  their  promises  to  the 
world.  Neither  floods,  nor  plague,  nor  panic  could 
shake  their  purpose,  and  in  the  midst  of  those  dark 
and  troublesome  times  they  created  a  legacy  that 
has  become  priceless  with  the  passing  of  the  years. 
Birmingham  had  been  founded  upon  material 
things,  a  body  corporate  destined  to  wealth.  Now 
came  the  spiritual  being,  fully  endowed  with  the 
attribute  of  faith,  hope  and  love;  the  last  a  by- 
product of  disaster.  The  fellowship  of  trouble 
knit  together  those  who  remained  to  fight  the  bat-, 
ties  of  Birmingham,  and  here  was  born  a  spirit  of 
democracy,  the  impress  of  which  is  manifest  today 
in  the  fact  that  the  only  aristocracy  existing  in 

[  17  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

the  community  is  the  aristocracy  of  personal 
worth.  Snobbishness,  that  colorless  product  of 
idleness,  has  not  taken  root  here.  The  pace  has 
been  too  swift. 


[  18  ] 


Jl^/T    !  1.1 


CHAPTER   II 


WHEN   EVERYBODY  VOTED 


POLITICS,  that  great  national  sport,  in- 
vaded Birmingham  at  the  very  beginning, 
and  forthwith  became  distinguished  for 
lurid  achievements.  The  first  election,  held  when 
the  new  town  was  less  than  a  year  old,  attracted 
people  from  a  radius  of  a  hundred  miles,  and  the 
privilege  of  the  ballot  was  freely  conferred.  Peo- 
ple from  Montgomery  and  intermediate  points  on 
the  South,  and  Decatur  and  intermediate  points  on 
the  North,  marched  up  to  the  ballot  box  and  voted 
their  preference  on  a  purely  local  question ! 

The  burning  issue  on  that  July  day  in  1872  was 
the  proposed  removal  of  the  county  court  house 
from  Elyton,  the  ancient  county  site,  to  Birming- 
ham, the  infant  prodig}\  The  old  settlers,  the  real 
natives  of  the  county,  constituted   a  formidable 

[  19  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

majority.  Many  of  them  looked  upon  the  ' '  doings 
and  carryings  on''  in  the  new  town  -with  thinly 
disguised  suspicion,  while  the  calmness  and  con- 
servatism of  the  ancient  community  in  which  the 
court  house  stood  held  an  irresistible  appeal. 

Realizing  that  the  tide  was  flowing  against  them, 
the  resourceful  gentlemen  behind  the  new  town 
decided  to  meet  the  situation  by  giving  an  immense 
barbecue  on  election  day,  ^Svitli  an  abundance  of 
good  things  to  eat  and  drink,  and  ^yit]l  music  and 
other  features  galore,''  as  the  widespread  in\dta- 
tions  phrased  it.  Construction  trains  were  brought 
into  service  on  the  morning  of  the  election  and 
hundreds  of  negro  laborers  were  hauled  to  town, 
as  were  large  groups  of  white  people. 

The  barbecue  was  spread  on  the  site  donated  by 
the  land  company  for  the  location  of  the  court 
house,  and  a  huge  ballot  box  was  placed  close  at 
hand.  Brewer's  Band,  a  hastily  constructed 
musical  aggregation  thrown  together  by  W.  P. 
Brewer,  who  today  is  one  of  the  few  survivors  of 
that  hectic  period,  discoursed  music  that  made  up 
in  volume  what  it  lacked  in  harmony,  and  this, 
with  the  speech-making,  the  games  and  contests, 
and  other  feats,  made  a  most  thrilling  event. 
Colonel  Powell,  the  *'Duke  of  Birmingham,"  ap- 
peared on  the  scene  attired  in  royal  fashion,  his 
costume  adding  much  to  the  color  of  the  occasion. 

[  20  ] 


WHEN  EVERYBODY  VOTED 

Adorned  with  a  red  sasli,  an  army  coat  which 
might  have  been  worn  by  a  brigadier  general,  and 
wearing  a  glittering  sword,  he  made  an  imposing 
figure.  Shortly  after  he  appeared  upon  a  proud- 
stepping  steed,  the  word  spread  among  the  negroes 
that  he  was  General  Grant,  who  only  a  few  years 
before  had  stricken  the  shackles  from  the  limbs  of 
the  black  man. 

History  does  not  record  who  was  responsible 
for  the  rumor  that  Colonel  Powell  was  General 
Grant,  nor  is  it  known  who  passed  the  word  among 
those  negroes  that  the  General  wanted  them  to 
vote  to  remove  the  court  house  to  Birmingham  as 
an  evidence  of  their  appreciation  of  what  he  had 
done  for  them  in  conferring  the  blessing  of  free- 
dom, but  the  impression  got  out,  the  word  was 
passed,  and  forthwith  all  doubt  about  how  the 
colored  folks  would  vote  melted  into  thin  air. 
They  voted  solidly  for  removal,  following  an  elo- 
quent address  by  the  *^ General."  A  rare  genius 
was  Colonel  Powell,  and  one  acquainted  with  his 
sense  of  humor,  his  daring,  his  initiative  and  his 
bigness  of  heart,  can  but  deplore  the  fact  that  dis- 
appointment dogged  his  footsteps  and  tragedy 
marked  the  close  of  his  spectacular  career. 

It  was  by  these  methods  that  the  court  house 
was  moved  from  Elyton  to  Birmingham ;  methods 
made  possible  by  legislation  enacted  under  the 

[  21  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

** carpet-bag"  rule  which  prevailed  in  Alabama  for 
a  number  of  years  following  the  enfranchisement 
of  the  negroes  and  the  disfranchisement  of  a  large 
part  of  the  white  citizenship.  Under  these  laws 
any  one  claiming  the  right  to  vote  could  so  do,  and 
to  challenge  this  alleged  right  was  to  make  one 
liable  for  prosecution  on  the  charge  of  obstructing 
the  ballot.  Thus  the  alien  voters  got  away  with 
it.  The  methods  resorted  to  by  the  Birmingham 
boomers  on  this  occasion  were  the  subject  of  much 
acrimonious  criticism,  but  the  result  stood  and  in 
due  course  the  court  house  was  removed.  Then 
came  the  time  when  the  wisdom  of  the  step  was 
conceded  universally,  and  bitterness  disappeared. 
Thus  Time,  the  great  healer,  condoned  the  methods 
of  the  ward  healer. 

It  might  be  observed  m  passing,  that  the  oppo- 
sition on  this  occasion  also  had  a  few  unique 
strings  to  its  bow.  For  instance,  a  brass  band 
that  had  been  imported  from  Montgomery  to  assist 
in  the  festivities,  was  composed  of  men  who  were 
careless  enough  to  lay  their  instruments  aside  for 
a  little  while,  only  to  find  upon  their  return  that 
someone  had  poured  tar  into  the  horns !  Yes,  it 
was  a  lively  contest,  the  forerunner  of  many  other 
hard  fought  and  spectacular  political  battles. 

Colonel  Powell  was  the  second  mayor  of  Birm- 
ingham, the  first,  R.  H.  Henley,  having  been  ap- 

[  22  ] 


WHEN  EVERYBODY  VOTED 

pointed  by  the  Governor,  but  several  years  later, 
when  he  attempted  again  to  attain  this  honor,  he 
met  a  most  hmniliating  defeat.  His  opponent  on 
this  occasion  was  a  railroad  engineer,  and  when 
the  latter  won  after  a  most  turbulent  struggle, 
the  Colonel  felt  his  defeat  so  keenly,  that  he  bade 
farewell  to  the  city  of  his  dreams  and  went  to 
Mississippi,  where  in  1883  he  was  shot  to  death 
in  a  tavern  near  Yazoo.  Thus  ended  the  career 
of  a  Virginian  who  came  to  Alabama  in  his  youth, 
and  who  played  a  highly  useful  part  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  State  and  in  the  founding  of  what 
is  now  the  State's  chief  city. 

The  loose  political  methods  w^hich  marked  the 
initial  struggle  in  Birmingham  continued  for  a 
good  many  years  with  varying  degrees  of  intensity. 
No  one  thought  anything  of  flim-flamming  the 
negro  out  of  his  vote  during  the  fervid  days  of 
reconstruction,  and  by  easy  stages  the  point  was 
reached  when  many  ardent  partisans  counted  it  a 
shrewd  thing,  when  by  some  adroit  maneuver  at 
the  polls,  they  could  defeat  the  opposition,  although 
the  only  issue  might  be:  Which  element  among 
the  whites  should  be  in  control.  As  an  illustration 
of  the  means  adopted  in  some  instances,  may  be 
chronicled  the  story  of  a  once  widely  known  poli- 
tician whose  services  were  always  greatly  in 
demand  as  an  election  official.       Speaking  of  a 

[  23  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

turbulent  contest  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago, 
he  said,  * '  I  was  one  of  the  clerks  at  the  City  Hall 
box,  and  during  the  day  I  marked  a  large  number 
of  ballots  and  slipped  them  under  my  vest,  where 
they  fitted  snugly.  That  evening,  when  the  polls 
closed,  and  the  ballot  box  was  opened  preparatory 
to  beginning  the  count,  I  leaned  far  over  the  box, 
pretending  to  want  something  on  the  other  side  of 
the  table,  and  at  the  same  moment  lifted  my  vest, 
spilling  the  surreptitious  ballots  down  among  the 
others. '^  He  thought  it  a  rich  joke,  and  did  not 
hesitate  to  tell  about  it  in  after  years.  And  there 
are  others  of  this  kind,  gifted  with  similar  in- 
genuity. 

Coincident  with  this  attitude  of  semi-indifference 
to  the  sacredness  of  the  ballot,  there  flourished  a 
like  indifference  to  certain  niceties  in  the  manage- 
ment of  public  affairs,  such  as  have  come  to  be 
observed  during  the  past  fifteen  or  twenty  years, 
partly  as  a  result  of  quickened  public  conscience 
and  partly  as  a  result  of  rigid  legislative  restric- 
tions. 

The  aldermanic  system  thrived  here,  as  in  most 
American  cities,  and  for  many  years  every  selfish 
interest  had  its  representatives  on  the  governing 
board,  and  the  thing  was  accepted  as  a  matter  of 
course.  The  saloons  were  a  large  factor  in  the 
political  life  of  the  community  and  as  a  rule  sev- 

[  24  ] 


WHEN  EVERYBODY  VOTED 

eral  saloon  keepers  were  numbered  among  the 
aldermen.  The  old  rolling  mill  district,  where 
Secretary  Davis,  of  President  Harding's  Cabinet, 
began  his  climb  toward  distinction,  was  thus  repre- 
sented. Contractual  relations  with  the  city  were 
formed  by  public  officials,  and  city  patronage  was 
enjoyed  by  firms  having  members  in  the  official 
family,  and  little  or  no  attention  was  paid  to  such 
matters.  That  abuses  were  not  more  general  is 
due  to  the  fact  that,  as  a  rule  the  governing  body 
was  'Composed  of  a  majority  of  men  whose  pur- 
poses were  unselfish. 

This  matter  of  city  officials  having  business  rela- 
tions with  the  municipality  rocked  along  until 
1905,  when  a  political  convulsion  thrust  a  veritable 
Teddy  Roosevelt  into  the  mayor's  office  in  the  per- 
son of  George  Ward,  who  enjoyed  what  in  those 
days  was  a  rare  distinction,  in  that  he  was  born  in 
Birmingham.  Ward  put  through  what  was  known 
as  an  ** Anti-graft''  ordinance,  under  which  the 
loose  and  questionable  practices  of  former  years 
were  made  unlawful.  At  the  same  time  he  created 
a  great  sensation  by  publicly  charging  a  member 
of  the  board  of  police  commissioners  with  having 
an  interest  in  a  famous  dive  known  as  the  Rabbit 
Foot  Saloon,  and,  when  the  police  commissioners 
failed  to  act  in  the  matter,  he  caused  the  offending 

[  25  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

official  to  be  impeaclied  before  the  board  of 
aldermen. 

On  one  occasion,  when  the  aldermanic  board  be- 
came arrayed  against  Ward  and  elected  a  presid- 
ing officer  who  sought  to  usurp  the  duties  of  that 
office,  Ward  beat  the  *^  pretender '^  to  the  chair, 
and,  slapping  a  large  and  formidable  looking  re- 
volver upon  the  desk,  announced  that  he  was  at 
the  helm  and  was  going  to  remain  there.  And 
he  did. 

It  happened  that  President  Roosevelt  visited 
Birmingham  while  Ward  was  mayor,  and  the 
latter,  given  to  few  words  as  a  rule  and  being  any- 
thing but  an  orator,  decided  to  distinguish  himself 
in  his  welcome  address  to  the  President.  To  this 
end  he  wrote  a  speech  full  of  beautiful  and  well 
rounded  sentences,  and  spent  weary  hours  memo- 
rizing it.  At  last  the  great  day  arrived  and  vdth 
it  the  President.  Ward,  with  a  large  number  of 
other  prominent  citizens,  met  the  train.  There 
was  a  vast  throng  present,  and,  as  the  Colonel 
stepped  out  upon  the  platform,  a  mighty  cheer 
went  up  from  the  multitude. 

At  this  crucial  moment,  Ma^^or  Ward  raised  his 
voice  and  exclaimed,  *^Mr.  President.''  Then  he 
stopped,  thought  for  a  moment,  and  started  over 
again.  **Mr.  President."  A  pause,  then  the 
Mayor  ceased  to  struggle  with  his  fugitive  memory 

[26  ] 


WHEN  EVERYBODY  VOTED 

and  proceeded:  ^'Mr.  President,  I  had  a  fine 
speech  of  welcome  for  you,  but  IVe  forgotten 
every  word  of  it,  but  we  are  glad  to  have  you  as 
our  guest. ' ' 

The  broad  grin  for  which  the  Colonel  was 
famous,  became  pronounced  at  this  juncture,  and 
reaching  for  the  hand  of  Ward,  he  exclaimed: 
'*Mr.  Mayor,  that's  the  finest  speech  IVe  heard 
since  I  left  Washington !'' 

Roosevelt,  by  the  way,  was  very  popular  in 
Birmingham,  and  no-where  was  his  famous  joke 
about  **Why  I'm  a  Democrat''  more  enjoyed. 
The  joke,  as  told  here,  ran  something  like  this : 

A  Northerner  and  a  Southerner  were  discussing 
matters  political  in  the  smoking  compartment  of 
a  Pullman,  when  the  Northerner  asked : 

<<Why  is  it  that  you  men  of  the  South  are  prac- 
tically all  Democrats?  In  the  North  we  divide; 
there  you  mil  find  Republicans,  Democrats,  Pro- 
gressives, Independents,  and  so  forth,  while  you 
of  the  South  stick  together  in  the  Democratic 
party.  Why  is  this  ?  Why,  for  instance,  are  you 
a  Democrat?" 

**Well,"  drawled  the  Southerner,  **my  father 
was  a  Democrat,  my  grandfather  was  a  Democrat 
and  my  great-grandfather  was  a  Democrat,  so,  of 
course,  I'm  a  Democrat." 

^*Ah,"  said  the  Northerner,  **  suppose  your 
[  27  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

father  liad  been  a  horse-thief  and  your  grandfather 
had  been  a  horse-thief  and  your  great-grandfather 
had  been  a  horse-thief,  what  would  you  have  been 
thenr' 

^'Oh,  I  guess  in  that  case  I'd  have  been  a  Repub- 
lican,'' was  the  reply  of  the  Southerner,  according 
to  the  widely  smiling  Colonel. 

Another  President  who  enjoyed  visiting  Birm- 
ingham was  Mr.  Taft,  and  on  one  of  his  brief 
stays  here,  he  performed  a  little  act  of  thoughtful- 
ness  that  did  much  to  endear  him  to  the  people. 
He  was  being  escorted  to  the  Country  Club,  where 
a  dinner  was  to  be  tendered  him,  and  while  on  the 
way,  he  turned  to  one  of  the  gentlemen  in  the 
automobile  in  which  he  was  riding,  and  asked: 
^'Doesn't  Rufus  Rhodes  live  out  this  way  some- 
where?" 

*^Yes,"  was  the  reply. 

*^Then  please  have  the  car  run  by  his  house." 

The  car  was  stopped  and  the  occupants  of  the 
other  automobiles,  constituting  a  somewhat  lengthy 
procession,  were  told  to  drive  on  to  the  Club. 
Thereupon  the  car  containing  the  President  was 
run  around  to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Rhodes,  who 
was  desperately  ill  and  who  died  shortly  there- 
after. There  Mr.  Taft  left  the  car,  and,  mounting 
the  steps,  he  rang  the  bell  and  asked  for  Mrs. 
Rhodes.      When  she  appeared,  he  inquired  about 

[  28  ] 


WHEN  EVERYBODY  VOTED 

the  condition  of  Mr.  Rhodes  and  expressed  his 
sympathy  in  terms  of  deep  sincerity. 

General  Rhodes  was  editor  and  founder  of  the 
*' Birmingham  News,"  one  of  the  leading  Demo- 
cratic papers  of  the  South,  but  he  was  a  great 
admirer  of  Taft,  and  this  admiration  led  him  to 
make  a  speech  at  Augusta,  Georgia,  which  caused 
a  gale  of  laughter  to  sweep  the  country  and  for 
which  he  was  twitted  no  little  by  his  colleagues  of 
the  Democratic  faith.  He  had  gone  to  Augusta, 
where  Mr.  Taft  was  spending  his  vacation,  to  speak 
for  a  delegation  that  wished  to  invite  the  President 
to  Birmingham,  and  in  the  course  of  his  speech  he 
made  the  statement  that,  during  the  preceding 
Presidential  election,  ^^We  voted  for  Bryan,  but 
prayed  for  Taft."  It  amused  Taft  greatly,  but 
as  much  could  not  be  said  of  Bryan,  and  from  that 
time  forward  there  was  a  coolness  between  the 
Commoner  and  the  Editor,  such  as  had  not  pre- 
vailed theretofore. 

How  narrowly  General  Rhodes  missed  going  to 
the  United  States  Senate  as  a  successor  to  Senator 
John  T.  Morgan,  and  the  amazing  piece  of  political 
maneuvering  by  which  this  culmination  was  de- 
feated, forms  a  story  that  is  without  a  parallel  in 
the  political  history  of  America. 

Both  Senator  Morgan  and  Senator  Pettus,  who 
had  represented  Alabama  in  the  United  States 

[  29  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

Senate  for  many  years,  were  far  advanced  in  age 
by  1900,  and  it  was  realized  that  they  could  not 
survive  for  many  more  years.  Therefore  the 
minds  of  the  politically  inclined  began  to  turn 
upon  the  matter  of  their  successors. 

B.  B.  Comer  had  been  elected  Governor  after  a 
sensational  fight  for  railroad  regulation,  and  it 
was  the  general  opinion  that  if  either  of  the  ven- 
erable senators  should  pass  away,  he  would  ap- 
point Rhodes  to  the  vacancy.  Those  in  charge  of 
the  Democratic  machinery  in  the  State  were  bit- 
terly opposed  to  this,  and  in  order  to  take  the 
matter  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Governor,  they 
evolved  the  unprecedented  plan  of  holding  a  pri- 
mary election  to  elect  successors  to  Morgan  and 
Pettus  while  these  gentlemen  were  alive  and 
actively  on  duty  in  Washington.  In  this  election, 
which  became  known  as  *Hhe  post-mortem  pri- 
mary,'' John  H.  Bankhead,  who  had  just  been  de- 
feated for  Congress  by  Captain  Richmond  P. 
Hobson,  and  Ex-Governor  Joseph  F.  Johnston, 
received  the  nomination.  Thus  any  chances 
Rhodes  might  have  had  went  glimmering  and,  in 
due  course,  both  Bankhead  and  Johnston  went  to 
the  Senate. 


[  30  ] 


5V=^    v  'J    I 

"^    t 


'  ^^:: 


CHAPTER   III 


THE 


IN    THE    SEVENTIES 


WHILE  black  slaves  bent  their  backs  to 
the  task  of  building  the  railroad  that 
was  destined  first  to  enter  the  great 
mineral  section  of  Alabama,  controversy  upon  the 
question  of  human  chattels  raged  the  nation  over, 
and  before  this  road  was  finished  controversy  gave 
way  to  armed  conflict,  and,  pending  the  issue,  con- 
structive works  hung  in  suspense.  From  the  task 
of  building  this  railroad,  the  slaves  were  called 
back  to  farm  and  plantation,  there  to  exert  every 
ounce  of  strength  in  producing  food  and  clothing 
for  men  at  war.  Commerce  could  wait  until  the 
War  God  had  his  feast ! 

This  early  railroad  enterprise,  which  was  de- 
signed to  run  to  Chattanooga  from  a  point  on  the 
Mobile  &  Ohio  Eailroad  near  Meridian,  passing 

[  31  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIEMINGHAM 

through  the  coal  and  iron  fields  of  Alabama,  had 
its  inception  at  a  barbecue  given  in  a  grove  at 
Elyton,  (now  part  of  Birmingham)  in  the  summer 
of  1854. 

At  that  time  stage  coaches,  each  drawn  by  six 
horses,  ran  from  Elyton  to  Huntsville,  on  the 
North,  and  to  Montgomery,  on  the  South.  These 
coaches  provided  the  only  regular  means  of  trans- 
portation for  individuals,  and  offered  no  hope  as 
a  means  of  transporting  such  materials  as  existed 
in  the  mineral  district.  In  order  to  stimulate 
interest  in  a  plan  he  had  conceived  for  bringing 
a  railroad  into  the  district.  Col.  William  S.  Ernest 
arranged  a  great  barbecue  at  Elyton  and  invited 
men  of  influence  from  all  parts  of  the  State. 

In  those  days  the  barbecue  was  an  even  greater 
institution  than  at  this  time.  In  many  communi- 
ties it  was  the  most  notable  event  of  the  year, 
looked  forward  to  mth  the  liveliest  interest,  and 
always  the  occasion  of  a  great  outpouring.  It 
meant  an  incomparable  feast,  for  there  were  no 
other  means  known  for  giving  to  meat  the  appetiz- 
ing quality  it  acquired  when  roasted  above  hot 
coals,  being  drenched  the  while  with  sauces  that 
imparted  a  rare  and  delectable  flavor. 

Before  the  day  of  the  barbecue,  great  trenches 
were  dug,  and  into  these  was  piled  the  oaken  fuel. 
Across  the  trenches  iron  racks  were  laid,  upon 

I  32  ] 


THE   '^DOUBLE-CROSS"  IN  SEVENTIES 

wMcli  the  beef  and  mutton  and  pork  and  poultry, 
and  deer  and  bear  and  wild  turkey,  were  placed  for 
roasting.  Then,  early  in  the  morning  of  the  great 
day,  the  fires  were  lighted,  and  for  hours  the  meats 
would  roast,  every  piece  being  watched  by  men 
skilled  in  the  art  of  out-door  cooking.  Brunswick 
stew,  a  famous  Southern  dish,  would  be  bremng 
in  huge  pots,  while  in  scores  of  homes,  near  and 
far,  dainties  of  a  special  fineness  would  be  in 
course  of  preparation. 

For  miles  and  miks  the  people  would  come,  in 
every  conceivable  form  of  vehicle  —  fancy  buggies, 
drawn  by  high-stepping  horses;  ancient  coaches, 
with  high-hatted  drivers  upon  the  high  front 
seats ;  wagons  made  in  the  neighboring  blacksmith 
shop ;  wagons  fresh  from  the  factory ;  carts,  with 
enormous  wheels,  drawn  by  enormous  oxen.  Thus 
men  brought  their  families,  while  scores  of  young 
fellows  appeared  astride  horses  and  mules,  which 
they  tied  in  the  friendly  shade. 

Homes  were  few  and  far  between  in  those  days, 
and  most  of  these  people  led  a  lonely  existence: 
So  the  barbecue,  like  the  old-time  camp-meeting, 
afforded  a  point  of  contact,  and  was  a  day  luminous 
in  the  life  of  the  people.  Oratory  they  had,  too, 
in  those  days,  the  real  thing.  Men  did  not  hesitate 
to  paint  the  lily  nor  add  luster  to  the  rain- 
bow. 

[33  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIEMINGHAM 

Their  souls  were  full  of  poetry,  and  they  let  it 
flow,  to  the  vast  delight  of  those  assembled  throngs. 

It  was  on  such  an  occasion  as  this  that  the  first 
railroad  project  was  launched,  and  one  may  judge 
the  excellence  of  the  food  by  the  measure  of  suc- 
cess the  promoter  attained.  A  considerable 
amount  of  stock  was  purchased  on  the  spot,  and 
committees  were  named  to  see  planters  all  along 
the  proposed  route  with  a  view  of  interesting  them 
in  the  project.  These  committees  discharged  their 
duties  well,  inducing  many  land-owners  who  could 
not  subscribe  in  cash,  to  take  stock  and  pay  for  it 
by  having  their  slaves  lay  so  many  miles  of  rail- 
road. It  was  through  this  arrangement  that  the 
slave  labor  became  such  an  important  factor  in 
pushing  the  work  during  its  early  stages.  Thus 
matters  progressed  in  a  very  satisfactory  manner 
until  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  when  all  such  activ- 
ities were  brought  to  an  abrupt  close. 

About  the  time  this  railroad,  known  as  the 
North-East  and  South- West,  was  being  started, 
there  was  considerable  agitation  in  favor  of  an- 
other highway,  the  dream  of  its  promoters  being 
to  link  the  Tennessee  Eiver  ^\4th  the  Alabama 
Eiver,  and  thus  have  a  railway  uniting  the  mineral 
section  of  the  State  to  the  two  great  navigable 
streams.  In  1858,  the  Legislature  appropriated 
$10,000  for  preliminary  work  on  this  enterprise, 

[  34  ] 


THE  ^^DOUBLE-CEOSS^'  IN  SEVENTIES 

which  was  called  the  Alabama  Central  Eailroad. 
John  T.  Milner,  an  aggressive  Southerner  who  had 
been  pioneering  in  the  gold  fields  of  California, 
was  made  chief  engineer.  The  vast  extent  of  the 
mineral  resources  in  North  Alabama  impressed 
him  profoundly,  and  in  his  initial  report  to  Gov- 
ernor Moore  he  said :  * '  We  are  at  the  beginning  of 
the  development  of  gigantic  national  resources." 

It  was  determined  to  push  on  with  the  enter- 
prise, but  a  dispute  arose  between  Montgomery 
and  Selma  concerning  the  Southern  terminus,  and 
the  issue  had  to  be  fought  out  on  the  floors  of  the 
Legislature.  Both  of  these  ancient  cities  stand 
on  navigable  streams,  and,  in  those  far  days,  each 
was  jealous  of  any  advantage  that  might  accrue  to 
the  other.  In  the  end  a  compromise  was  reached 
under  which  the  new  road  was  brought  to  a  point 
on  the  old  East  Tennessee,  Virginia  and  Georgia 
Eailroad,  exactly  the  same  distance  from  Selma  as 
from  Montgomery  —  a  fifty-fifty  proposition,  as  it 
were.  The  point  of  contact  was  in  the  woods  at 
that  time,  but  Calera,  a  town  of  several  thousand 
people,  has  since  developed  there. 

Work  on  this  road  also  was  stopped  by  the  war, 
but,  as  with  the  older  enterprise,  it  was  resumed 
after  the  close  of  the  conflict. 

With  both  of  these  railroads  approaching  the 
future  city  of  Birmingham,  and  destined  to  cross 

[35  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIEMINGHAM 

at  some  point  in  the  vicinity,  it  occurred  to  Milner 
that  it  would  be  a  fine  idea  for  the  promoters  of 
the  two  roads  to  come  to  an  agreement  about  the 
junction  point,  and  then  acquire  a  large  amount  of 
land  adjacent  to  the  crossing,  since  a  city  of  con- 
siderable proportions  was  sure  to  spring  up  with 
the  development  of  the  coal  and  iron  deposits. 

This  idea  appealed  to  the  moving  spirit  in  the 
other  road,  and  it  was  decided  to  locate  the  cross- 
ing in  a  valley  three  or  four  miles  to  the  North  of 
the  present  city.  Thereupon  options  were  ob- 
tained upon  several  thousand  acres  of  land,  and 
Milner  went  forward  with  his  road  as  determined 
upon  in  the  agreement.  Later  he  learned  that  the 
directing  head  of  the  other  enterprise  had  changed 
his  plans  and,  with  a  view  to  owning  the  future 
city  in  its  entirety,  had  obtained  options  upon 
several  thousand  acres,  constituting  the  present 
site  of  Birmingham,  and  had  routed  his  road  so 
that  the  crossing  would  come  upon  this  property. 

This  development,  which  demonstrates  that  the 
methods  of  the  frenzied  financier  were  known  even 
in  those  days,  left  Milner  and  his  associates  with 
a  lot  of  useless  options  on  their  hands,  and  with 
hopes  of  a  fortune  knocked  into  nothingness.  His 
associates  were  dumbfounded  by  the  development, 
and  felt  they  had  been  robbed  of  the  best  fruits  of 
a  most  promising  enterprise,  for  all  of  them  were 

[  36  ] 


THE  ^^DOUBLE-CROSS''  IN  SEVENTIES 

confident  that  the  city  of  their  dreams  would 
materialize  at  the  crossing,  and  that  the  land 
would  become  immensely  valuable.  This,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  is  exactly  what  happened,  and  they 
would  have  had  no  part  in  the  tremendous  incre- 
ment in  values  but  for  the  adroit  scheme  of  beating 
the  enemy  which  developed  in  the  head  of  Milner. 

Without  divulging  to  a  single  individual,  what 
he  had  in  mind,  Milner  began  to  run  new  surveys 
far  East  of  those  originally  made,  thus  creating 
the  impression  that  he  was  going  to  change  the 
route  so  that  it  would  cross  the  other  steel  highway 
seven  or  eight  miles  above  the  point  where  the  ex- 
clusive options  had  been  obtained.  This  so  dis- 
concerted the  moving  spirit  in  the  other  road  that 
he  was  afraid  to  exercise  his  options,  since  out- 
right purchase  would  have  involved  a  large  amount 
of  money,  and  this  is  just  the  state  of  mind  that 
Milner  had  hoped  to  create.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  situation  was  so  uncertain  that  the  options 
were  allowed  to  expire.  They  were  to  have  been 
taken  up  at  a  bank  in  Montgomery  by  noon  of  a 
certain  day,  but  the  holder  had  become  so  confused 
by  the  maneuvers  of  Milner  that  he  failed  to  put  in 
an  appearance. 

In  the  meantime,  Milner  had  arranged  to  obtain 
the  same  options  in  the  event  the  enemy  failed  to 
close,  and  he  and  his  friends  were  on  hand  with 

[37] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

this  end  in  view.  When  the  time  came,  the  op- 
tions passed  into  friendly  hands.  Thereupon  the 
property  was  purchased,  the  sum  of  $100,000  being 
advanced  for  this  purpose  by  Josiah  Morris,  at  the 
solicitation  of  Milner.  Later  the  property  was 
deeded  to  the  Elyton  Land  Company,  during  the 
corporate  life  of  which  it  became  worth  many 
milHons  of  dollars. 

When  the  enemy  had  been  outwitted  in  this  fash- 
ion, Milner  resumed  construction  on  his  road  along 
the  line  originally  intended,  and  the  location  of  the 
future  city  was  fixed.  He  did  not  get  the  city 
exactly  where  he  had  expected  to  have  it,  but  he 
and  his  associates  got  the  land  upon  which  it  was 
to  stand  —  tliis  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  options 
were  obtained  by  another,  who  had  gone  to  the 
length  of  changing  the  route  of  his  road  in  an 
effort  to  become  sole  owner  of  the  South 's  future 
industrial  metropolis. 

Birmingham  today  has  nine  trunk  line  railroads, 
representing  32,000  miles  of  track,  and  two  local 
railroads  which  render  special  service  to  the  dis- 
trict. One  of  these  forms  a  loop  about  the  city, 
touching  practically  all  important  manufacturing 
establishments,  while  the  other  performs  a  wider 
loop  and  renders  a  similar  service  to  furnace  and 
mining  enterprises  throughout  the  territory. 
From  the  latter,  scores  of  spur  tracks  radiate, 

[38  ] 


THE  ^'DOUBLE-CEOSS'^  IN  SEVENTIES 

going  to  coal  mines,  ore  mines,  quarries,  furnaces 
and  similar  enterprises.  With  the  nine  trunk  lines 
leaving  in  various  directions,  and  with  the  loop 
lines  circling  the  district,  a  railroad  map  of 
Birmingham  looks  not  unhke  the  web  of  a  giant 
spider. 

For  a  good  many  years  the  city  was  dependent 
upon  railroad  transportation,  and  its  development 
as  a  wholesale  or  jobbing  center  was  hindered 
somewhat  by  the  fact  that  some  cities  in  the  same 
general  territory  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  water 
rates.  With  a  view  of  meeting  this  situation,  the 
development  of  transportation  on  the  Warrior 
River  was  urged  with  tireless  persistence,  and 
gradually  that  stream  was  deepened  through  the 
erection  of  huge  dams,  until  it  became  navigable 
to  a  point  within  thirty  miles  of  Birmingham. 
Thereupon,  the  Port  of  Birmingham  was  estab- 
hshed  and  this  city  was  given  a  river  rate.  Now 
self-propelled  steel  barges  carry  Birmingham 
products  to  Mobile  and  New  Orleans,  w^here  they 
are  transferred  to  vessels  and  carried  to  all  parts 
of  the  world.  The  same  barges  return  laden  with 
merchandise  for  the  city  of  Birmingham,  brought 
much  cheaper  than  it  can  be  shipped  by  rail.  This 
development,  which  was  made  possible  by  the  ex- 
penditure of  millions  of  dollars  on  the  part  of  the 
government  in  the  improvement  of  the  Warrior 

[  39  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

River,  is  a  comparatively  new  thing,  but  it  prom- 
ises to  play  a  tremendous  part  in  the  future  of  the 
city.  Birmingham  products  essentially  are  heavy, 
and  the  fact  that  these  products  may  now  be  floated 
to  the  Gulf,  and  there  placed  upon  steamers  which 
ply  the  seven  seas,  gives  the  district  an  added 
advantage.  Water  transportation  now  furnishes 
the  one  thing  that  has  been  lacking. 

The  measure  of  the  revolution  wrought  in  trans- 
portation in  this  district  during  the  fifty  years 
since  Birmingham's  founding,  is  difficult  to  visual- 
ize, but  one  may  sense  something  of  its  magnitude 
by  recalling  the  old  stage-coach,  as  it  was  drawn 
slowly  and  toilsomely  over  the  rough  mountain 
roads.  Then  watch  the  flight  of  the  huge  air- 
crafts,  as  they  arise  from  the  Dixie  Flying  Field 
and,  after  soaring  high  in  the  blue,  dart  away  at 
a  speed  of  a  hundred  miles  an  hour. 

Which  reminds  us  that  Birmingham  is  an  aerial 
center  of  world-wide  reputation.  Because  of  the 
ideal  geographical  location,  and  the  presence  of 
large  quantities  of  by-product  gas  of  unusual  lift- 
ing power,  this  city  was  chosen  as  the  starting 
point  for  the  great  international  balloon  race  of 
1920,  in  which  Belgium  carried  off  the  honors. 
Later,  when  the  selection  of  an  American  con- 
tender at  the  Belgium  meet  was  to  be  made, 
Birmingham  again  was  chosen,  and  it  so  happened 

[  40] 


THE  ^^ DOUBLE-CROSS'^  IN  SEVENTIES 

that  the  air-craft  that  won  in  this  event  was  * '  The 
Birmingham  Semi-Centennial. ' '  This  balloon  will 
represent  the  United  States  at  the  international 
contest  in  Belgium,  and  will  be  the  means  of  adver- 
tising to  the  Old  World  the  fact  that  a  New  AVorld 
city  is  celebrating  its  fiftieth  birthday. 

Birmingham's  street  railway  system,  embracing 
over  two  dozen  lines,  penetrates  every  part  of  the 
city  and  reaches  all  adjoining  communities  of  im- 
portance. Bus  lines  are  numerous,  many  of  these 
operating  between  the  city  and  rural  communities 
over  excellent  county  highways.  Jefferson  County 
has  hundreds  of  miles  of  splendid  roads,  most  of 
them  of  chert,  but  many  being  paved  with  asphalt 
as  they  approach  the  city.  The  far-reaching  pav- 
ing program  has  been  outlined  by  the  county 
authorities,  and  continued  progress  along  this  line 
is  certain. 

In  the  city  proper,  there  is  more  than  a  hundred 
miles  of  hard-surface  pavement,  most  of  it  asphalt 
upon  a  concrete  base.  Tremendous  strides  are 
being  made  in  paving  the  city,  the  program  for  this 
year  calling  for  expenditures  of  more  than  a  mil- 
lion dollars.  Such  unpaved  streets  as  remain  are 
in  a  bad  condition  as  a  rule,  the  hilly  nature  of  the 
land  causing  them  to  wash  easily,  but  all  important 
thoroughfares  are  being  paved  as  rapidly  as  the 
work  can  be  done.      In  pushing  paving  with  such 

[41  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

extraordinary  vigor,  the  municipal  government 
proceeds  upon  the  theory  that  good  streets  pro- 
claim a  good  town.  Then  an  additional  incentive 
is  found  in  the  fact  that  a  paved  street  costs  prac- 
tically nothing  to  maintain,  when  the  paving  is 
done  right,  while  money  spent  in  improving  un- 
paved  streets  is  so  much  money  laid  down  for 
Jupiter  Pluvius  to  wash  into  storm  sewers,  which 
is  the  last  place  the  city  wants  it  to  go. 

In  this  connection,  it  is  interesting  to  note  how 
time  solves  so  often  the  problem  of  waste  mate- 
rials. For  years  and  years  huge  mountains  of 
refuse,  called  ^^slag,'^  accumulated  about  the  fur- 
naces of  Birmingham.  All  the  waste  material 
which  came  out  of  the  ore  had  to  be  dumped  some- 
where, and  about  every  iron-maker  there  arose  a 
great  mountain  composed  of  this  material.  For 
years  it  was  nothing  more  than  an  expensive 
nuisance,  encumbering  the  land  and  presenting  an 
unsightly  appearance.  Then  it  developed  that  out 
of  the  slag  could  be  made  a  high-class  road  mate- 
rial; that  it  was  even  better  than  crushed  stone 
for  making  the  concrete  base  with  which  bitu- 
minous roads  are  provided,  and  thus  a  great 
demand  was  created.  About  the  same  time  a 
process  was  found  for  making  brick  and  similar 
materials  out  of  slag,  with  the  result  that  the 
growth  of  these  artificial  mountains  was  halted, 

[  42  ] 


THE  ^'DOUBLE-CROSS''  IN  SEVENTIES 

and  the  owners  began  to  get  a  return  on  something 
they  thought  was  a  total  loss. 

The  presence  of  vast  quantities  of  this  slag  in 
and  about  the  city,  furnishes  Birmingham  with  an 
inexhaustible  supply  of  road  material,  since  the 
production  of  slag  will  go  on  so  long  as  iron  is 
made. 

For  the  surface  treatment  of  highways,  Birming- 
ham by-product  plants  produce  bituminous  mate- 
rials upon  a  colossal  scale,  but  the  story  of  the 
multiplicity  of  things  extracted  from  coal  by  these 
enterprises  is  told  in  another  chapter. 


[43  ] 


CHAPTER   IV 


COURTING   THE   BAUBLE   FAME 


THE  swollen  postal  receipts  of  this  city  are 
not  clue  altogether  to  the  stirring  com- 
merce, nor  yet  to  the  voluminous  corre- 
spondence incident  to  the  conduct  of  vast  industrial 
enterprises,  for  be  it  known  that  here  the  literary 
urge  is  persistent  and  insistent.  Writers  are 
numerous,  and  the  distinguished  success  achieved 
by  the  few  proves  an  endless  source  of  inspiration 
to  the  many.  Hence  the  stream  of  manuscripts 
floT\dng  through  the  postoffice  and  hence  the  fame 
that  now  and  then  descends  upon  some  local  genius 
in  the  field  of  literary  endeavor. 

Birmingham's  most  distinguished  writer  is 
Octa\nis  Roy  Cohen,  whose  books  are  widely  read 
and  who  also  is  known  to  fame  as  the  author  of 
many  short  stories  depicting  the  ingenuities  and 

[44  ] 


COURTING  THE  BAUBLE  FAME 

eccentricities  of  the  negro,  the  scene  of  these  amus- 
ing and  always  interesting  escapades  being  laid  in 
Birmingham.  But  Cohen's  popularity  among  Ms 
home  folks  is  not  due  to  the  success  he  has  achieved 
in  the  literary  field.  His  sympathetic  interest  in 
the  aspirations  of  struggling  writers,  and  his  will- 
ingness to  be  of  assistance  to  them,  has  won  for 
him  a  place  in  their  hearts  that  might  well  be 
envied  by  any  who  rejoice  in  the  affection  of  their 
fellows.  He  is  the  dean  of  a  group  of  writers, 
most  of  them  unknown,  whose  members  meet  regu- 
larly to  hear  and  discuss  the  mental  products  of 
one  another,  helpful  suggestions  being  the  central 
thought. 

One  of  the  first  Birmingham  writers  to  attain 
the  distinction  of  producing  a  *'best  seller''  was 
Mary  Johnston,  whose  *^To  Have  and  to  Hold," 
and  *^ Prisoners  of  Hope,"  gave  her  a  pre-eminent 
position  among  creators  of  fiction.  Unlike  Cohen, 
she  left  Birmingham  a  few  years  after  achieving 
success. 

Bozeman  Bulger,  now  on  the  editorial  staff  of 
a  great  national  magazine,  is  another  Birmingham 
writer  known  to  fame,  but  no  longer  a  citizen  of 
the  community.  However,  his  departure  was  not 
altogether  volitional.  The  local  newspaper  upon 
which  he  worked  years  ago  found  his  stories  too 
indifferent  for  a  modern  journal,  and  so  he  was  set 

[45  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

adrift.  Thereupon  he  went  to  work  on  a  New 
York  paper  that  was  less  discriminating,  and  in  a 
little  while  his  name  became  known  to  baseball 
fans  the  country  over.  Then  he  began  writing 
magazine  articles,  theatrical  skits  and  so  forth, 
and  finally  reached  his  present  position. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  Bulger  to  know  that  the 
old  boarding  house  where  he  and  I  took  our  meals 
in  those  days  when  the  price  of  a  meal  was  not 
always  a  simple  problem,  afterwards  became  a 
negro  boarding  house,  and  then  was  swallowed  up 
in  the  maw  of  commercial  progress.  I  wonder  if 
he  remembers  the  gentleman  ^vith  the  large  mus- 
tache who  used  to  drink  half  the  contents  of  the 
cream  pitcher  when  the  back  of  the  landlady  was 
turned,  or  the  large  and  peevish  Chesterfield  w^ho 
arose  from  his  seat  one  day  and  knocked  the  col- 
ored waiter  across  the  length  of  the  dining  room 
because  of  some  slight  breach  of  etiquette?  The 
heroes  of  these  incidents  are  dead,  but  not  so  with- 
the  young  man,  no  longer  young,  who  used  to  tell 
the  waiter,  ^'I  want  five  spoonsful  of  coffee,''  and 
who  heaped  maledictions  upon  the  head  of  the  un- 
happy negro  if  the  coffee  measured  more  or  less 
than  the  quantity  prescribed.  This  gentleman  is 
living  today  and  exactness  still  is  his  motto.  The 
kind  and  gentle  doctor,  who  prescribed  for  our  ills, 
is  dead,  and  the  saloon  keeper  who  sat  at  the  head 

[46  ] 


COURTING  THE  BAUBLE  FAME 

of  the  table  is  married,  falling  victim  long  ago  to 
the  charms  of  the  landlady. 

Bulger  was  not  the  only  newspaper  man  who 
lost  a  job  here  and  found  a  position  elsewhere; 
the  distinction  between  a  job  and  a  position  being, 
as  I  understand  it,  that  one  involves  lots  of  work 
and  little  pay,  while  the  other  means  little  work 
and  much  pay.  Sewell  Haggard  was  set  adrift 
by  the  paper  with  which  he  worked  here  and,  hav- 
ing nothing  else  to  do,  he  went  to  New  York.  There 
he  reached  the  top  in  the  newspaper  field,  and  then 
became  the  editor  of  a  magazine  of  national 
circulation. 

At  this  point  I  feel  sure  that  the  reader  expects 
the  writer  to  point  some  moral  from  the  experience 
of  Bulger  and  Haggard,  but  I  can  only  offer  the 
feeble  suggestion  that  perhaps  the  spark  of  genius 
has  to  be  fired  before  it  will  flame. 

Literary  expression  in  Birmingham  has  not  been 
confined  to  prose.  Here,  too,  is  many  an  unsung 
Milton,  or  those  who  would  be  Miltons.  And  here 
has  arisen  at  least  one  figure  whose  fame  has 
become  widespread.  Clement  Wood  started  out 
to  reform  the  world  tlirough  the  introduction  of 
the  Socialistic  era,  and  wound  up  by  penning 
verses  that  placed  him  in  the  forefront  among 
American  producers  of  the  muse.  His  fame  was 
won  after  he  left  Birmingham  for  New  York,  but 

[  47  1 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

he  continued  to  call  this  his  home  and  to  visit  here 
occasionally.  He  first  leaped  into  prominence 
among  his  home  people  by  reason  of  the  enthusi- 
asm with  which,  as  judge  of  the  police  court,  he 
laid  up  fines  against  the  malefactors  of  great 
wealth.  Later,  when  he  ran  for  City  Commis- 
sioner, he  won  added  favor  among  the  proletarians 
by  the  masterly  fashion  in  which  he  took  the  hide 
off  the  capitalistic  class.  However,  the  measure 
of  favor  was  not  sufficient  to  mn  preferment,  and 
shortly  after  the  returns  were  in,  he  left  the  city, 
not  to  brood  or  repine,  but  to  convert  his  reverses 
into  verses.  And  a  good  job  he  made  of  it.  A 
Paris  journal  devoted  to  such  topics  ranks  him  as 
one  of  the  six  greatest  poets  of  today. 

Frances  Nimmo  Green,  now  of  Montgomery, 
began  her  literary  career  in  Birmingham,  where 
she  occupied  the  position  of  society  editor  of  a 
newspaper  and  gained  her  first  experience  in  fic- 
tion while  writing  descriptive  articles  concerning 
functions  and  figures  in  the  social  realm.  ^*The 
Devil  to  Pay,''  one  of  her  early  stories,  did  not  pay 
to  any  marked  extent,  but  ^'The  Right  of  the 
Strongest  "  was  a  great  success. 

The  author  of  the  *'Jarr  Family"  is  another 
writer  who  once  lived  in  Birmingham  but  who  for 
a  good  many  years  has  lived  Some-where-on-the- 
Hudson,      Roy  McArdle  resided  here  in  the  hey- 

[48] 


CHILDREN    OF   THE    MINES    PERFORM 


COURTING  THE  BAUBLE  FAME 

day  of  Birmingham's  youth  and  made  his  contribu- 
tion to  the  gaiety  of  the  period,  but  in  those  days 
newspaper  work  was  more  frequently  rewarded 
mth  an  order  on  the  grocer  than  with  a  check  on 
the  bank,  and  he  was  inspired  to  seek  pastures  new. 
Those  were  hard  days  in  the  newspaper  profes- 
sion. Many  times  I  have  seen  tlie  boys  gather 
around  on  pay-day  while  the  business  manager 
made  his  excuses  for  an  almost  empty  till,  and 
heard  them  express  their  choice  about  the  kind  of 
*' order"  they  wanted.  The  married  man  usually 
wanted  groceries,  and  perhaps  a  pair  of  shoes  for 
the  baby,  while  the  single  members  of  the  writing 
group  took  theirs  in  meal  tickets  and  sundry  arti- 
cles of  adornment.  The  newspapers  could  get 
advertising  to  be  ^* traded  out,''  but  advertising  to 
be  paid  for  in  cash  was  a  scarce  article.  I  have 
seen  Frank  O'Brien,  one  of  the  pioneer  publishers, 
weep  real  tears  as  he  deplored  the  inability  of  his 
paper  to  meet  its  payrolls.  But  those  times  long 
since  have  gone,  and  Avith  their  passing  there 
seems  also  to  have  passed  something  that  was 
wonderfully  fine ;  a  spirit  of  sympathetic  consid- 
eration and  of  loyal  co-operation  on  the  part  of 
employees  such  as  money  could  not  buy.  Every- 
body, printers,  pressmen,  reporters  and  solicitors, 
knew  what  the  *^old  man"  was  up  against,  and 
made  his  burdens  their  own.     They  loved  the  ^  *  old 

[  49  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIEMINGHAM 

sheet''  and  went  hungry  for  it,  and  wore  their 
clothing  threadbare  for  it.  A  fine  and  loyal  crowd 
it  was  that  laid  the  foundations  upon  which  the 
rich  and  powerful  journals  of  today  stand  in  such 
security ! 

Eufus  Ehodes,  founder  of  the  Birmingham 
News,  was  the  first  pubhsher  in  the  city  to  adopt 
the  then  startling  system  of  paying  his  men  off  in 
cash  when  the  cash  was  due,  and  a  right  popular 
shop  his  became.  He  also  insisted  on  more  busi- 
ness-like arrangements  mth  the  advertisers,  and 
gradually  order  was  brought  out  of  the  chaos  in 
which  the  newspaper  publishing  business  was 
plunged. 

Euth  Sharpel  McVoy  resided  in  Birmingham 
when  she  produced  ''The  Traitor's  Son,"  but  in- 
asmuch as  her  husband,  Eev.  E.  C.  McYoy,  is  a 
Methodist  minister  subject  to  the  quadrennial 
changes  imposed  by  this  church,  she  no  longer 
resides  in  this  city. 

A  novelist  who  beheves  Binningham  a  sort  of 
glorified  annex  to  the  City  Celestial,  and  who 
could  not  be  persuaded  to  leave,  as  so  many  writ- 
ing folks  have  done,  is  Mittie  Owen  McDavid, 
author  of  several  popular  works,  including  ''Prin- 
cess Pocahontas, ' '  and  ' '  Children  of  the  Meadow. ' ' 
She,  too,  has  been  a  guide  and  mentor  to  the  strug- 
gling and  has  done  much  to  encourage  both  the 

[  50  ] 


COURTING  THE  BAUBLE  FAME 

production  and  the  appreciation  of  good  liter- 
ature. 

Helen  Smith  Woodruff,  author  of  ^'Mr.  Doctor 
Man/'  and  ^'Lady  of  the  Lighthouse, '^  had  her 
home  in  Birmingham,  and  Sidney  Lazarus,  whose 
skits  are  familiar  to  theatregoers  in  New  York,  is 
a  product  of  this  city. 

A  studious  writer,  now  dead,  who  impressed  his 
personality  upon  Birmingham,  was  John  Wither- 
spoon  DuBose,  author  of  ^'General  Joe  Wheeler 
and  the  Army  of  Tennessee,''  and  a  history  of 
Alabama. 

Other  Birmingham  writers  whose  works  have 
been  of  much  more  than  local  interest  include 
Annie  Kendrick  Walker,  author  of  ^'Old  Shorter 
Houses  and  Gardens;"  Gerrad  Harris,  author  of 
*^ Trail  of  the  Pearl,"  and  ^^ Treasures  of  the 
Land;"  Dr.  Orien  T.  Dozier,  author  of  numerous 
poems  relating  to  the  valor  of  the  Confederate 
soldier,  and  Ethel  Armes,  author  of  ^'Coal  and 
Iron  in  Alabama,"  and  other  works. 

While  the  literary  urge  has  been  more  pro- 
nounced in  Birmingham  than  the  call  of  the  stage, 
the  latter  has  not  gone  unheard,  as  witnessed  by 
the  success  of  Henry  Walthall,  a  Birmingham  man, 
and  May  Allison  and  Lois  Wilson,  Birmingham 
girls.  All  of  these  are  stars  in  the  film  world. 
And,  speaking  of  films,  reminds  me  of  an  incident 

[51  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIEMINGHAM 

of  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  that  is  rather  amus- 
ing in  the  light  of  present  day  developments. 

At  that  time  the  silent  drama  was  experiencing 
a  sketchy  existence  in  one  or  two  of  the  larger 
cities  of  the  country,  about  the  most  thrilling  thing 
being  the  passing  of  the  Empire  State  Express. 
However,  some  saw  in  the  moving  picture  a  per- 
manent means  of  entertainment,  and  *^  nickel 
houses ' '  were  being  opened  here  and  there.  About 
this  time  Howell  Graham  began  talking  to  me 
about  the  possibilities  of  such  an  enterprise  in 
Birmingham,  finally  persuading  himself  that  the 
thing  was  worth  trying.  But,  alas,  the  procession 
did  not  wait,  and  one  day  Graham  came  to  me  with 
the  doleful  intelligence  that  the  local  field  had  been 
pre-empted  —  someone  had  opened  a  picture 
house !  The  idea  that  two  such  institutions  might 
survive  in  a  city  of  thirty  thousand  people  did  not 
occur  to  him,  and  he  went  to  Chattanooga  to 
launch  his  enterprise.  Truly  the  movie  has  moved, 
but  few  could  foresee  then  that  it  was  equipped 
with  super-seven-league  boots ! 

The  picture  house  established  here  at  that  time, 
and  which  sent  Graham  scurrying  to  Chattanooga, 
was  the  first  to  open  in  the  South.  The  manager 
had  been  associated  with  a  man  who  Avas  operating 
a  house  in  Pittsburgh,  and  the  success  achieved  by 
that  experiment  prompted  him  to  come  to  Birm- 

[  52  ] 


COURTING  THE  BAUBLE  FAME 

ingham,  Pittsburgh,  as  he  saw  it,  not  being  big 
enough  for  another  enterprise  of  this  character. 

One  of  the  most  laughable  things  ever  witnessed 
in  a  picture  house  occurred  in  the  theatre  opened 
by  Graham  in  Chattanooga.  Graham  saw  even 
then  that  it  would  be  a  tremendous  advantage  to 
have  some  means  of  keeping  his  house  cool  on  hot 
days,  and  he  devised  a  system  of  pipes  through 
which  air  was  blown  into  the  house  by  a  fan. 
These  pipes  were  covered  with  ice,  and  the  result 
was  highly  pleasing.  The  only  trouble  was  that 
condensation  set  in  when  the  fan  stopped,  and 
water  accumulated  in  the  pipes.  To  keep  this 
water  from  being  sprayed  over  the  audience,  it 
was  the  custom  to  cover  the  vent  with  a  sack  when 
the  fan  was  started,  and  keep  it  there  until  the 
interior  of  the  pipes  became  dry. 

In  those  days  the  picture  producer  was  de- 
pendent upon  nature  for  most  of  his  creations, 
Charlie  and  Fatty  not  having  appeared  on  the 
scene,  and  the  custard-pie  art  being  in  its  infancy. 
As  a  result,  street  scenes,  railroad  scenes  and 
ocean  scenes  were  numerous.  It  so  happened  that 
Graham  was  showing  an  ocean  scene  at  the  time 
of  this  incident,  great  waves  rushing  over  the 
rock-bound  coast  and  there  dashing  themselves  to 
pieces.  AVliile  this  picture  was  being  displayed 
one  afternoon,  the  darky  who  looked  after  the  air 

[  53  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

cooling  plant  neglected  to  put  the  sack  over  the 
vent  before  the  fan  was  started,  and  the  result  was 
startling.  A  veritable  shower  was  thrown  upon 
the  audience,  and  as  one  man  rushed  out  he  ex- 
claimed: ^'  Marvelously  realistic;  those  waves 
splashed  all  over  me ! ' ' 

Graham,  by  the  way,  made  the  first  aluminum 
screen  upon  which  a  motion  picture  was  shown. 
A  painter  by  profession,  he  conceived  the  idea  that 
aluminum  would  bring  out  the  fine  points  of  the 
picture,  and  he  painted  his  curtain  accordingly. 
It  was  a  great  success,  and  subsequently  he 
painted  similar  curtains  for  other  movie  men.  A 
year  and  a  half  after  conceiving  this  idea  he  was 
summoned  as  a  witness  in  the  United  States  Court, 
and  there  found  that  two  rival  concerns  were 
fighting  over  the  patent  rights  to  the  aluminum 
screen !  The  idea,  to  which  he  had  given  scarcely 
a  thought,  save  as  it  affected  his  own  playhouse, 
had  become  worth  a  fortune,  but  not  to  him.  Hav- 
ing neglected  to  answer  any  of  those  alluring 
patent-attorney  advertisements,  he  had  to  stand 
by  and  see  others  fight  over  the  spoils.  Today  he 
is  back  in  Birmingham,  out  of  the  picture  business, 
but  furnishing  most  of  the  local  show  houses  with 
posters  from  his  second-story  paint-shop. 

Not  all  of  Birmingham's  talented  newspaper 
writers  have  been  forced  to  seek  other  fields  by 

[  54  ] 


COURTING  THE  BAUBLE  FAME 

reason  of  being  dropped  from  the  payroll,  as  the 
thoughtless  might  infer  from  the  experience  of 
Bulger  and  Haggard.  Some  linger.  There  is  Paul 
Cook,  who  conducts  a  '^column,'*  and  whose  jokes 
are  reproduced  in  humorous  papers  all  over  the 
country.  Though  profoundly  solemn  of  counte- 
nance, he  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading  news- 
paper humorists  of  the  country. 

Then  there  is  ^^  Dolly  Dalrymple,''  one  of  the 
sprightliest  writers  and  cleverest  women  the  city 
has  produced.  Putting  witty  sayings  into  the 
mouths  of  darkies  is  one  of  her  specialties. 
*' Dolly"  is  Mrs.  Orline  Shipman. 

Another  clever  pen-pusher  is  Frank  Willis  Bar- 
nett,  doctor  of  divinity,  lawyer,  editor  and  erst- 
while globe-trotter,  who  writes  entertainingly  on 
any  and  all  subjects,  and  who  will  make  a  speech 
on  the  slightest  provocation. 


[55] 


CHAPTER   V 


IRON   AND    STEEL   TO    THE    RESCUE 

IT  is  significant  that  tlie  birth  of  Birmingham 
came  at  a  time  when  activities  in  the  South 
hung  almost  in  suspense.  In  this  wide  and 
fertile  territory  vast  wealth  has  been  amassed 
from  the  soil  through  the  medium  of  slave  labor. 
Cotton,  corn,  sugar  cane,  tobacco  and  kindred 
crops  grew  in  abundance  and  found  a  ready 
market.  The  cost  of  production  was  low  and  the 
profits  generous.  Under  the  circumstances  little 
thought  was  given  to  industrial  development,  and 
vast  deposits  of  coal,  iron,  marble  and  similar 
products  remained  untouched. 

Then  came  the  war  in  which  the  South  spent 
its  material  resources,  pouring  the  accumulated 
wealth  of  generations  into  the  struggle  for  the 

[  56  ] 


IRON  AND  STEEL  TO  THE  EESCUE 

Confederacy,  only  to  lose  in  the  end.  With  the 
close  of  the  conflict,  slave  labor,  which  had  been 
the  backbone  of  agricultural  development,  van- 
ished. Thus,  with  its  material  accumulation  gone, 
with  its  labor  freed,  and  its  scheme  of  existence 
torn  to  shreds,  the  South  was  as  a  ship  without  a 
rudder. 

The  fight  to  come  back  had  been  on  for  ^ve  years 
when  Birmingham  was  born,  the  progress  being 
slow  and  tedious  to  a  degree  that  tried  the  souls  of 
men.  And  the  early  come-back  was  distinctly 
along  agricultural  lines.  Only  the  merest  handful 
dreamed  of  an  industrial  South.  Cotton,  the  pros- 
trate King,  aspired  once  more  to  a  position  of 
world  eminence,  and  the  South 's  hope  was 
wrapped  up  in  the  fulfilment  of  this  aspiration. 

But  the  handful  who  visioned  the  South  en- 
riched through  the  development  of  its  mineral 
wealth  looked  farther.  Then  Birmingham  w^as 
born,  and  here  were  laid  the  deep  foundations  of 
an  industrial  structure  that  has  spread  to  far 
places  and  has  become  the  basis  of  a  new  and  more 
permanent  form  of  wealth.  And  it  is  rather  a 
gripping  fact  that  today  the  tonnage  of  the 
Birmingham  district  is  greater  than  that  of  the 
entire  cotton  crop  of  the  South. 

The  development  of  the  huge  deposits  of  iron 
and  coal  in  the  Birmingham  district  caused  new 

[  57  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

railroads  to  push  their  way  into  this  section,  open- 
ing up  the  while  vast  territories  w^hich  theretofore 
had  been  without  transportation  facilities.  More- 
over, these  adventures  gave  a  tremendous  impetus 
to  the  discovery  and  development  of  mineral  de- 
posits in  other  parts  of  the  South,  with  the  result 
that  a  new  era  w^as  introduced,  and  the  time  came 
when  the  South  no  longer  limped  upon  a  single 
crutch.  Eather  it  strode  along  to  undreamed 
wealth  upon  two  sturdy  limbs,  agriculture  and 
industry. 

The  geographical  location  of  the  new  city  was 
ideal  for  communicating  this  quickened  industrial 
spirit.  Placed  in  the  very  center  of  the  cotton 
producing  states,  and  soon  equipped  with  arteries 
of  commerce  that  penetrated  every  part  of  the 
South,  the  influence  of  Birmingham  became  like 
that  of  the  leaven  which  permeated  the  whole  lump. 

It  all  sounds  magical,  even  entrancing,  in  the 
telling,  but  how  slow  and  tedious  in  the  actual 
achievement,  and  how  fraught  with  the  birth- 
pains  of  creative  effort ! 

Despite  the  bold  confidence  of  that  little  com- 
pany of  pioneers  who  planned  with  such  assurance, 
Birmingham  iron  did  not  readily  lend  itself  to  the 
processes  of  manufacture.  Birmingham  coal  had 
not  5^et  been  transformed  into  coke,  and  charcoal 
was  used  for  fusing  the  ore.      Of  this  somewhat 

[  58  ] 


IRON  AND  STEEL  TO  THE  EESCUE 

expensive  material  it  required  196  tons  to  produce 
a  ton  of  iron  in  1873.  The  old  Oxmoor  furnace, 
operating  with  charcoal,  proved  a  veritable  ^Svhite 
elephant,"  and  the  time  came  when  it  was  taken 
in  satisfaction  of  a  debt  for  timber  —  and  very- 
poor  satisfaction  it  proved  to  those  who  took  it. 
With  a  debt  of  $240,000  hanging  over  it,  the  own- 
ers, desperate  and  discouraged,  finally  offered  to 
turn  the  property  over  to  anyone  who  would  take 
it  and  demonstrate  that  iron  could  be  made  suc- 
cessfully in  the  Birmingham  district. 

Here  was  a  challenge  that  startled  the  com- 
munity. In  the  apt  colloquialism  of  the  present 
day,  it  meant  **put  up  or  shut  up.'' 

Thus  far  Birmingham's  dream  of  greatness  had 
been  founded  upon  the  fact  that  she  was  com- 
passed about  by  tremendous  deposits  of  coal  and 
iron.  With  an  environment  like  this,  her  found- 
ers had  challenged  the  world  to  come  and  grow 
rich  through  the  development  of  these  proud  pos- 
sessions. The  most  glittering  claims  had  been 
advanced,  and  upon  the  basis  of  these  claims  a 
large  amount  of  money  had  been  invested  in  the 
community. 

Now  the  founders  and  builders  were  face  to  face 
with  a  stern  reality.  They  stood  confronted  with 
the  cold  and  clammy  truth  that  it  is  one  tiling  to 
possess  raw  materials  and  quite  another  thing  to 

£59] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

transmute  those  materials  into  merchandise  that 
may  be  exchanged  for  currency  in  the  markets  of 
the  world. 

Facing  this  situation,  a  little  company  of  mov- 
ing spirits  gathered  in  the  office  of  the  Elyton 
Land  Company  with  a  view  to  formulating  some 
plan  of  action,  and  if  they  cherished  any  delusions 
about  the  community  in  which  their  money  had 
been  invested,  they  left  their  delusions  at  the  door. 
They  went  in  for  a  real  diagnosis,  realizing  that 
they  had  reached  the  parting  of  the  ways  and  that 
it  was  up  to  them  to  determine  whether  Birming- 
ham was  to  go  the  way  of  so  many  boom  to^\Tis,  or 
was  to  come  into  the  heritage  they  had  pictured 
for  it  in  their  hours  of  optimism,  and  while  they 
deliberated  destiny  awaited  without ! 

The  meeting,  which  had  been  called  by  Major 
John  T.  Milner,  was  well  attended  and  most  of 
those  present  were  fighting  men,  veterans  of  ardu- 
ous campaigns  under  Lee,  Jackson,  Hood,  John- 
ston and  other  distinguished  leaders  of  the  Con- 
federacy. Subsequent  events  proved  that  they 
carried  their  fighting  spirit  into  the  meeting,  and 
to  this  fact  the  Birmingham  of  today  owes  much 
of  its  greatness. 

A  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Mudd  —  Judge 
W.  S.  Mudd  —  was  called  to  the  chair,  he  being  for 
the  moment  the  harassed  custodian  of  the  ^Svhite 

[60] 


IRON  AND  STEEL  TO  THE  RESCUE 

elephanf  into  which  the  Oxmoor  furnace  had 
developed.  Major  W.  J.  Milner  acted  as  secre- 
tary, and  Colonel  John  T.  Milner,  one  of  the 
strong  props  of  the  struggling  community,  made 
the  opening  address.  L.  S.  Goodrich,  an  iron 
expert  of  considerable  reputation,  and  others, 
made  talks,  the  burden  of  which  was  that  Birming- 
ham had  to  push  on  and  that  the  only  way  to  do  it 
was  to  devise  some  means  of  converting  Birming- 
ham coal  into  coke  and  to  use  this  coke  instead  of 
charcoal. 

Before  the  meeting  adjourned  an  organization 
known  as  the  Experimental  Coke  and  Iron  Com- 
pany was  formed,  and  committees  were  named  to 
solicit  subscriptions  to  carry  on  the  experimental 
work. 

That  the  flamboyant  atmosphere  had  disap- 
peared from  Birmingham  as  a  result  of  bitter 
reverses  is  aptly  illustrated  by  the  difference  in 
the  name  adopted  for  the  company  on  this  occa- 
sion and  the  name  of  the  concern  that  had  gone  on 
the  rocks  and  was  ready  to  turn  its  property  over 
to  anybody  or  any  institution  that  would  run  it. 
The  name  of  the  sadly  disappointed  organization 
was  the  Eureka  Mining  &  Transportation  Com- 
pany, a  title  suggestive  of  mighty  triumphs.  The 
new    organization   was    openly    and    confessedly 

[61  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

** experimental.''     Birmingliam  had  gotten  down 
to  bed-rock. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  of  this  newly  formed 
company  a  Belgian  inventor  by  the  name  of 
Shantle  appeared  and  submitted  a  coke  oven  which 
he  claimed  was  the  thing  the  Birmingham  people 
needed  to  solve  the  problem  of  utihzing  their  own 
coal  in  coke-making.  The  invention  looked  prom- 
ising and  shortly  thereafter  Qve  of  the  ovens  were 
built  under  the  direction  of  Captain  Frank  P. 
O'Brien,  an  energetic  Irishman  who  afterwards 
cut  a  wide  swath  in  the  business  and  political  life 
of  the  community. 

At  this  second  meeting  of  the  experimental  com- 
pany a  committee,  which  consisted  of  Ben  F. 
Eoden,  John  T.  Milner,  Willis  J.  Milner,  W.  S. 
Mudd  and  Frank  P.  O'Brien,  reported  a  plan  of 
permanent  organization,  and  upon  the  adoption  of 
this  plan  Colonel  J.  W.  Sloss,  Charles  Linn  and 
W.  S.  Mudd  were  constituted  the  board  of 
managers. 

The  suspense  with  which  the  operation  of  this 
experimental  organization  was  watched  was  akin 
to  that  with  which  members  of  a  family  watch  at 
the  bedside  of  a  stricken  father  or  mother.  The 
industrial  life  of  the  district  was  at  a  standstill. 
The  outcome  involved  not  only  the  future  of  all 
iron-making  projects,  but  future  railroad  projects 

[  62  ] 


IRON  AND  STEEL  TO  THE  RESCUE 

as  well.  The  South  and  North,  now  Louisville  & 
Nashville  Railroad,  which  had  been  pushed  into 
the  district  because  of  the  tonnage  that  seemed  so 
certain  in  the  beginning,  was  a  virtual  corpse. 
There  was  no  tonnage  to  haul  and  no  passenger 
traffic  to  serve.  A  single  passenger  car  was  oper- 
ated Southward  to  Calera  once  a  week,  and  the 
ghastly  truth  had  dawned  upon  most  every  one 
that  unless  iron  could  be  produced  in  the  Birming- 
ham district  upon  a  commercial  basis  this  railroad 
would  have  to  be  abandoned,  as  would  every  other 
project  of  a  similar  character. 

At  this  time  there  were  only  three  coal  mines  in 
operation  in  Alabama,  but  the  owners  of  these 
were  eager  to  promote  the  coke-making  industry, 
and  they  donated  coal  for  experimental  purposes. 
The  South  &  North  Railroad,  also  anxious  and  ex- 
pectant, hauled  the  materials  free  of  charge,  and 
donated  some  cash.  The  ore  needful  for  the  ex- 
periments was  given  by  the  Eureka  Company, 
together  with  the  use  of  the  furnace  property. 

The  experiments  were  accompanied  by  repeated 
disappointments,  and  many  began  to  share  the 
view  of  the  leading  iron  experts  of  the  North  that 
Alabama  ore  was  not  suited  to  iron  making.  But 
Colonel  J.  W.  Sloss,  who  directed  the  operations, 
was  undismayed.  He  continued,  through  various 
experts,  to  try  new  methods,  and  finally,  after 

[63] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIKMINGHAM 

montlis  of  labor,  the  crucial  test  came  on  June  28, 
1876.  On  this  date  it  was  demonstrated  beyond 
peradventure  that  coke  iron  could  be  produced  in 
Birmingham. 

The  success  of  the  efforts  put  forth  by  the  Ex- 
perimental Company  had  an  electrical  effect  upon 
the  district  and  marked  the  real  beginning  of  the 
industrial  expansion  which  led  up  to  the  great 
boom  of  the  middle  eighties.  Furnace  construc- 
tion began  almost  immediately,  hundreds  of  coke 
ovens  were  built,  projected  railroads  were  pushed 
forward,  new  mines  were  opened,  and  manufactur- 
ing and  mercantile  enterprises  developed  with 
astonishing  rapidity. 

Lots  which  had  gone  begging  during  the  dark 
days  of  1873-75  arose  to  dizzy  heights.  The  stock 
of  the  Elyton  Land  Company,  which  had  dropped 
to  seventeen  cents  a  share,  went  up  like  a  sky- 
rocket, and  in  1886  every  dollar  originally  put 
into  it  was  worth  $35.  The  dividend  payments  for 
that  year  amounted  to  340  per  cent. 

The  growth  of  Birmingham  and  the  rapid  in- 
crease in  values  during  the  ten  years  intervening 
between  1876  and  1886  attracted  international  at- 
tention, and  brought  tliousands  of  people  to  the 
community,  many  of  them  coming  with  a  view  of 
making  yjermanent  investments,  but  others  having 
no  other  idea  than  to  make  a  quick  turn-over  and 

[  64  ] 


IRON  AND  STEEL  TO  THE  RESCUE 

then  go  on  their  way.  The  latter  element  injected 
into  the  community  the  virus  of  inordinate  specu- 
lation, and  the  result  was  an  orgy  of  buying  and 
selling,  accompanied  by  the  most  sensational  rises 
in  value.  As  prices  leaped  skyward,  and  profits 
were  pyramided,  frenzy  grew,  and  presently 
Birmingham  was  in  the  midst  of  a  real  estate  boom 
that  fairly  appalled  the  conservative  element. 

Every  train  swelled  the  throngs  of  frenzied  buy- 
ers until  it  became  impossible  to  house  the  multi^ 
tudes.  Men  bought  property  they  had  never  seen 
and  turned  it  over  at  a  profit  to  others  who  were 
equally  oblivious  as  to  what  they  were  buying. 
Lots  changed  hands  several  times  in  a  single  day 
while  the  frenzy  lasted,  and  every  transfer  was  at 
a  substantial  advance. 

During  the  rush  attending  this  orgy  of  specu- 
lation, it  was  not  unnatural  that  even  the  lowly 
colored  boy  should  seek  to  get  a  part  of  the  golden 
fleece,  and  he  adopted  unique  methods,  one  of 
which  was  to  get  in  the  long  line  that  formed  daily 
at  the  general  delivery  window  of  the  postoffice, 
and,  when  he  succeeded  in  dra^^ing  close  to  the 
window,  sell  his  place  to  some  hurried  individual 
who  wanted  to  lose  as  little  time  as  possible  in 
receiving  his  mail  and  getting  back  into  the  great 
game  of  profit-grabbing. 

This  boom  illustrated  once  more  the  age-old 
[65] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

truth  that  air-castles  will  not  stay  put,  and  when 
the  inevitable  happened  the  last  state  of  Birming- 
ham was  almost  as  bad  as  the  first.  About  the 
only  difference  between  the  blow  caused  by  the 
boom  and  that  which  had  been  caused  by  the 
cholera  was  that  the  boom  hit  more  people  and 
the  doleful  news  of  the  collapse  was  carried 
farther. 

Recovery  from  the  baleful  effects  of  this  boom 
was  slow  and  labored,  and  it  was  almost  a  decade 
before  the  city  finally  caught  the  pace  that  carried 
it  to  the  present  position,  of  eminence. 

During  this  period  of  sharp  reaction  the  truth 
became  obvious  that  unless  domestic  iron  could  be 
converted  into  steel  upon  a  commercial  basis,  then 
Birmingham  was  destined  to  remain  a  raw  mate- 
rial town,  with  cheap  labor,  a  crude  output,  and  a 
circumscribed  growth. 

Several  attempts  had  been  made  to  produce 
steel,  but  the  processes  proved  so  costly  that  the 
enterprise  had  to  be  abandoned.  Events  rocked 
along  thus  until  1895,  when  another  epoch-making 
experiment  was  made  at  a  little  furnace  which  had 
been  erected  for  the  purpose,  at  the  old  rolling 
mill  which  once  stood  near  the  present  Alice  fur- 
nace. This  experiment  was  approached  with  much 
the  same  feeling  that  attended  the  more  ancient 
experiment  of  producing  coke  iron.      Every  one 


lEON  AND  STEEL  TO  THE  RESCUE 

acquainted  with  the  industrial  life  of  the  com- 
munity felt  that  the  production  of  steel  upon  a 
basis  that  would  enable  Birmingham  to  compete 
with  other  steel-producing  centers  would  mean  a 
tremendous  forward  step,  and  the  result  was 
awaited  with  breathless  interest.  Failure  meant 
continued  stagnation;  success  meant  a  new  and 
dazzling  era  of  expansion ! 

And  it  was  success ! 

The  steel  that  streamed  from  the  white-hot 
mouth  of  that  little  experimental  furnace  proved 
an  omen  of  rare  good  fortune.  It  was  prophetic 
of  the  time  when  gigantic  industries  w^ould  stretch 
their  lurid  length  for  miles  along  the  valley ;  when 
the  products  of  the  Birmingham  district  would  go 
to  the  far  places  of  the  earth,  and  when  the  strug- 
gling and  oft-defeated  little  city  would  take  its 
place  as  one  of  the  great  industrial  centers  of  the 
world ! 


[  67  ] 


CHAPTER   VI 


EOY    COHEN'S  XEGEO    QUARTER 

BIRMINGHAM'S  negro  quarter,  made  fa- 
mous by  Octavus  Roy  Colien  in  his  inimi- 
table sketches,  is  but  two  blocks  removed 
from  the  main  artery  of  commerce.  Twentieth 
Street  is  the  Broadway  of  Birmingham,  and  most 
of  the  picture  shows,  soft  drink  emporiums  and 
professional  offices  described  by  Cohen  are  two 
blocks  west  on  Eighteenth  Street.  And  a  right 
brave  showing  the  colored  population  makes  upon 
this  thoroughfare. 

At  night  when  Florian  Slappey,  Lawyer  Chew, 
and  thousands  of  their  kind  are  abroad,  the  picture 
theatres  present  fronts  just  as  dazzling  as  the 
theatres  around  the  corner  that  cater  to  the  whites, 
and  the  show  windows  shine  mth  the  same  reful- 
gence.      Here  are  drug  stores,  haberdasheries, 

[  68  ] 


EOY  COHEN'S  NEGRO  QUARTER 

tailor  shops,  furniture  stores,  and  kindred  enter- 
prises, and  many  of  them  wear  an  air  of  smartness 
creditable  to  both  the  taste  and  the  enterprise  of 
the  proprietors. 

Most  of  the  buildings  in  this  quarter  are  two- 
story  bricks,  but  there  is  one  office  building  six 
stories  in  height  that  would  be  a  credit  to  any  part 
of  the  city.  It  belongs  to  the  colored  Knights  of 
Pythias  of  the  State,  and  it  is  kept  in  beautiful 
condition.  Housed  within  its  walls  are  most  of 
the  professional  men  of  this  race,  doctors,  dentists, 
and  la"\^^'ers. 

Booker  Washington,  who  founded  Tuskegee 
Institute,  was  a  frequent  visitor  to  Birmingham 
and  his  influence  upon  the  colored  population  was 
marked.  His  memory  is  revered  today,  and  his, 
influence  for  good  survives.  Local  leaders  with 
like  ideals  have  been  numerous,  too,  and  the  pleas- 
ant relationship  which  has  always  existed  between 
the  races  in  Birmingham  is  due  largely  to  these 
influences.  There  has  never  been  a  race  riot  in 
this  city,  despite  the  presence  of  more  than  seventy 
thousand  negroes,  and  there  is  not  the  slightest 
evidence  of  race  antagonism.  The  Birmingham 
negro,  guided  by  wise  leaders,  has  found  his 
groove  and  quietly  moves  within  it. 

The  memory  of  Booker  Washington  is  perpetu- 
ated in  Birmingham  by  the  Booker  T.  Washington 

[  69  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

Public  Library,  equipped  with  funds  raised 
through  the  colored  schools  of  the  city,  but  main- 
tained by  the  municipality  under  the  Public 
Library  Board.  It  is  a  popular  institution  and 
plays  an  important  part  in  the  life  of  the  colored 
population. 

Negro  churches  are  numerous  and  a  number  of 
them  are  huge  and  imposing.  It  was  in  one  of 
these,  the  Shiloh  Baptist,  that  the  greatest  calam- 
ity in  the  history  of  the  city  occurred  in  1902. 
Booker  Washington,  whose  appearance  on  the 
platform  in  this  city  was  ever  a  signal  for  a  vast 
outpouring,  was  the  speaker  on  that  occasion,  and 
the  church  was  packed  to  the  doors.  During  the 
exercises  some  confusion  arose  and  an  excitable 
person  cried  *^ fight."  The  audience  understood 
this  cry  to  be  *^fire,"  and  out  of  so  small  a  thing 
arose  a  ghastly  tragedy.  There  was  an  instant 
rush  for  the  main  exit,  and  there,  in  a  hollow 
square,  into  which  stairways  from  the  galleries 
emptied,  struggling  humanity  was  piled  eight  to 
ten  feet  high.  More  than  a  hundred  negroes  were 
either  crushed  to  death  or  smothered  in  this  pit. 

This  appalling  tragedy  was  a  tremendous  shock 
to  Booker  Washington,  and  those  who  were  close 
to  him  feel  that  it  did  much  to  bring  on  the  con- 
dition which  culminated  in  his  death  a  few  years 
later. 

[  70  ] 


EOY  COHEN'S  NEGRO  QUARTER 

The  number  of  illiterates  among  Birmingliam 
negroes  is  comparatively  small,  and  the  percentage 
is  decreasing  rapidly.  Total  illiteracy  among 
blacks  as  a  whole  is  eighteen  and  four-tenths  per 
cent.  Illiteracy  exists  chiefly  among  the  older 
members  of  the  race,  as  is  illustrated  by  the  fact 
that  only  three  and  eight-tenths  per  cent  of  illiter- 
ates are  found  among  members  of  the  race  between 
sixteen  and  twenty  years  of  age. 

This  steady  decrease  in  illiteracy  is  due  to  the 
excellent  school  facilities  provided  in  Birmingham 
for  the  colored  population,  and  to  the  strong  em- 
phasis placed  upon  education  by  negro  leaders. 
Compulsory  education,  a  new  thing  in  Alabama, 
will  bring  about  a  more  rapid  advance  in  future 
years. 

The  Industrial  High  School  for  Negroes,  a  part 
of  the  public  school  system  of  Birmingham,  is  do- 
ing really  a  wonderful  work  in  training  the  colored 
youth  for  a  life  of  usefulness.  Manual  training  is 
stressed  strongly,  and  the  students  have  the  op- 
portunity to  learn  many  useful  occupations. 
Shoemaking,  tailoring,  carpentry,  auto-mechanics, 
printing  and  similar  trades  are  taught,  while  girls 
have  domestic  science,  dressmaking  and  nursing, 
Members  of  the  nursing  class  proved  a  veritable 
boon  to  the  city  during  the  epidemic  of  influenza 
which  swept  the  country  in  1919.     Here,  as  else- 

[  71  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

where,  the  number  of  professional  nurses  was 
wholly  inadequate  to  meet  the  situation,  and  the 
presence  of  scores  of  well-trained  high  school  stu- 
dents, who  were  willing  to  assist  in  the  emergency, 
proved  a  real  blessing  to  the  community. 

While,  as  indicated  in  the  foregoing,  illiteracy 
is  fast  disappearing  among  the  negroes,  there  re- 
mains a  sufficient  number  of  the  old-time  darkies, 
with  their  ignorance  and  superstition,  to  furnish 
endless  amusement  to  the  observant. 

For  a  number  of  years  my  work  as  a  newspaper 
reporter  carried  me  to  jails,  morgues  and  courts, 
places  where  the  tragic  note  dominates  nine-tenths 
of  the  time,  and  where  the  darky  always  is  in  evi- 
dence. Eecalling  these  scenes  now,  I  seem  to 
review  a  long  procession  of  dead  bodies  and  dead 
hopes,  yet  amid  these  sombre  surroundings  oc- 
curred some  of  the  most  amusing  things  that  ever 
came  under  my  observation,  the  central  figure 
being  usually  a  negro. 

One  of  the  morgues  I  visited  daily  was  where 
many  of  the  victims  of  railroad  and  mining  acci- 
dents were  sent  to  be  prepared  for  burial,  and  it 
was  a  dull  day  when  some  still  form  was  not 
stretched  out  upon  one  of  the  long  marble  slabs. 
In  addition  to  the  reporters,  whose  duty  required 
them  to  visit  this  place  daily,  there  was  an  aged 
darky  who  came  practically  every  day,  curiosity 

[  72  ] 


ROY  COHEN  ^S  NEGRO  QUARTER 

being  the  sole  incentive.  His  manner  of  approach 
was  the  same  always.  Reaching  the  front  door, 
he  would  take  off  his  hat  in  a  reverential  manner 
and  step  softly  into  the  office;  then  approaching 
the  manager  in  the  most  insinuating  manner,  he 
would  ask :  *  ^  Boss,  is  you  got  any  corpses  today  ? ' ' 
Whenever  the  reply  was  in  the  affirmative,  he 
would  ask :   *  ^  Can  I  view  the  'mains  1 ' ' 

On  such  occasions,  if  there  happened  to  be  in  the 
house  the  body  of  a  negro  man,  the  manager  would 
say,  ^'Come  on,''  and  would  lead  the  old  darky 
back  into  the  gloomy  hall,  where  were  the  marble 
slabs  and  the  motionless  figures. 

Entering  the  room  with  obvious  terror,  yet 
drawn  by  some  irresistible  fascination,  the  negro 
would  watch  as  the  sheet  was  drawn  back  and  gaze« 
awe-stricken  upon  the  cold,  expressionless  face  of 
the  dead.  Then  he  would  utter  a  sigh  and  take  his 
departure. 

This  happened  time  and  time  again,  and  finally 
the  old  man  became  an  institution.  If  the  after- 
noon papers  chronicled  a  wreck  or  an  explosion, 
and  told  of  the  victims  having  been  carried  to  this 
establishment,  *^01d  Curiosity,"  as  he  had  become 
known,  was  always  on  hand  the  following  morning, 
eager  to  view  the  **  'mains." 

For  months  this  darky  enjoyed  the  intoxication 
of  terror,  but  all  things  have  an  end,  as  one  learns 

[73  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

by  contact  with  a  morgue,  and  the  visits  of  **01d 
Curiosity''  terminated  finally,  the  end  coming  in 
this  fashion : 

One  dull  summer  day  several  of  the  boys  were 
chatting  in  the  front  office,  when  the  approach  of 
the  darky  was  observed.  The  manager  was  out 
at  the  time,  and  one  of  his  assistants,  whose  bump 
of  humor  had  flourished  prodigiously  even  among 
unfavorable  surroundings,  said,  ^^Send  him  back, 
boys ;  I  am  going  to  get  under  a  sheet  on  Slab 
One,"  and  he  fled  to  the  morgue. 

*^Boss,  has  you  got  any  corpses  today?"  the  old 
man  asked  as  he  entered  the  door. 

*^Yes,"  replied  one  of  the  reporters,  **just  go 
back  and  look  under  the  sheet  on  Slab  One.'' 

Thus  enjoined,  the  darky  edged  his  way  into  the 
gloomy  back  room,  and,  stopping  at  Slab  One, 
gingerly  drew  down  the  sheet.  As  he  did  so  the 
*' corpse"  looked  him  straight  in  the  eye  and 
inquired : 

*^  What  the  deuce  do  you  want,  nigger?" 

With  a  yell  of  terror,  the  darky  dropped  the 
sheet  and  fled  from  the  place,  moving  with  a  speed 
that  was  highly  complimentary  to  his  aged  legs. 
So  far  as  I  know,  he  never  returned.  The  cure 
was  complete. 

The  attitude  of  *^01d  Curiosity"  is  typical  of 
the  ignorant  among  the  blacks.     They  dearly  love 

[  74] 


EOY  COHEN'S  NEGRO  QUARTER 

a  funeral,  and  a  cadaver  lias  for  them  a  mighty 
fascination,  yet  they  are  terrified  beyond  measure 
at  anything  suggestive  of  the  supernatural. 

At  another  undertaking  establishment  on  my 
*^beaf  two  negroes  were  called  on  to  bring  a 
basket  down  stairs  from  an  upper  room.  They 
learned  too  late  that  the  basket,  which  was  covered 
with  a  sheet,  contained  the  body  of  a  man  who  had 
died  only  a  short  time  before,  and  they  were  in  a 
rather  nervous  state  when  they  started  down  the 
stairs,  one  at  either  end  of  the  basket.  They  had 
taken  only  a  few  steps  downward  when  the  corpse 
was  seen  deliberately  to  draw  up  its  knees.  As 
the  knees  came  up  the  negroes  loosed  their  hold, 
and,  with  cries  of  terror,  tumbled  pell-mell  down 
the  stairway,  followed  by  the  basket,  the  body  and 
the  winding  sheet.  The  corpse  finally  came  to  a 
stop,  as  did  the  basket  and  the  sheet,  but  not  so 
the  negroes.  They  kept  going,  and  from  that 
time  on  they  cut  this  establishment  from  their 
calling  list. 

What  had  happened  was  this :  The  negroes,  in 
going  down  the  stairs,  had  allowed  the  foot  of  the 
basket  to  drop  so  low  that  the  body,  which  had  not 
become  rigid,  slipped  downward,  forcing  the  knees 
to  come  up  exactly  as  if  the  corpse  had  moved  of 
its  own  volition.    The  thing  was  so  life-like  that 

[  75  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF.  BIRMINGHAM 

one  could  not  blame  the  negroes  for  assuming  that 
the  dead  was  manifesting  unorthodox  activity. 

A  little  comedy,  the  final  act  of  which  I  wit- 
nessed in  the  police  court,  started  directly  in  front 
of  this  undertaking  establishment.  A  well  known 
and  eminently  respectable  citizen  was  walking  by 
the  place  when,  without  warning,  he  was  seized  by 
a  husky  young  negro,  who  not  only  embraced  him 
in  a  most  enthusiastic  manner,  but  seemed  dis- 
posed to  do  a  cake-walk  with  him  there  upon  the 
public  street.  The  two  struggled  violently  for  a 
brief  period  and  then  a  policeman  rushed  up  and 
pried  them  apart. 

The  negro  was  carried  to  jail,  and  on  the  follow- 
ing morning,  when  the  case  was  called,  the  gentle- 
man who  had  been  assaulted  took  the  stand  and 
swore  that  he  w^as  walking  along  quietly,  when, 
without  the  slightest  provocation,  the  defendant 
leaped  upon  him  and  attempted  to  throw  him.  He 
had  never  seen  the  negro  before,  so  far  as  he  knew, 
and  could  offer  no  explanation  of  the  act.  Several 
other  witnesses  were  called,  their  testimony  being 
along  the  same  lines. 

The  negro,  a  quiet  and  docile  creature,  as  he 
appeared  in  the  court  room,  had  no  witnesses,  but 
was  represented  by  a  police  court  lawyer,  who  was 
recognized  as  an  unusually  resourceful  young  man. 
The  lawyer  paid  little  attention  to  the  evidence, 

[  76  ] 


B 


ROY  COHEN'S  NEGRO  QUARTER 

except  to  develop  tlie  fact  that  there  existed  no 
known  cause  for  malice.  When  the  evidence  was 
in,  he  addressed  the  court  as  follows : 

^'If  your  honor  please,  no  evidence  has  been 
produced  here  to  show  premeditation.  On  the 
other  hand,  all  that  has  been  said  tends  to  prove 
the  act  of  my  client  to  have  been  involuntary,  and 
this,  if  it  please  the  court,  is  the  truth,  as  I  shall 
show  you. 

"My  client,  if  it  please  the  court,  is  what  is 
known  as  a  ^goosy'  negro '' 

"A  whatr'  exclaimed  the  court. 

**A  *goosy'  negro,  if  it  please  your  honor;  that 
is  to  say,  he  is  so  constituted  that  if  any  one  pokes 
a  finger  against  his  person  he  involuntarily  throws 
his  arms  about  any  object  that  happens  to  be  in 
front  of  him.  He  can't  help  it,  your  honor,  and 
this  is  what  happened;  the  defendant  was 
^goosed'  by  some  one  at  the  moment  the  gentleman 
was  passing,  and,  obeying  this  uncontrollable  im- 
pulse, he  threw  his  arms  about  the  first  object  at 
hand,  which  happened  to  be  the  complainant." 

The  judge  reached  for  his  pen  and  was  about 
to  write  "ten  dollars  and  costs"  across  the  docket, 
intending  afterward  to  compliment  the  lawyer 
upon  the  ingenuity  of  his  defense,  when  the  ar- 
resting officer  conceived  the  idea  of  giving  a 
demonstration  of  the  absurdity  of  the  lawyer's 

[77] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

contention.  With  this  end  in  view,  he  poked  an 
experimental  finger  into  the  ribs  of  the  darky. 

When  this  happened  the  accused  was  standing 
at  the  bar,  directly  in  front  of  his  lawyer.  As  the 
stubby  finger  of  the  officer  came  in  contact  with 
his  person  he  uttered  a  startled  cry  and,  at  the 
same  moment,  threw  his  arms  about  the  la^v^^er 
and  began  to  do  a  war-dance,  the  genuine  nature  of 
which  no  witness  could  question.  The  spectators 
howled  their  delight  as  three  brawny  blue-coats 
applied  themselves  to  the  task  of  rescuing  the 
badly  tousled  disciple  of  Blackstone. 

When  the  judge  succeeded  in  getting  the  water 
out  of  his  eyes  —  water  being  one  of  the  by-pro- 
ducts of  laughter  —  he  inscribed  ^^not  guilty" 
opposite  the  name  of  the  darky  and  called  the  next 
case. 

It  was  in  this  court  that  I  witnessed  the  acquittal 
of  a  negro  woman  who  won  her  freedom  by  reduc- 
ing the  prosecuting  witness  to  a  state  of  coma  with 
a  blow  upon  the  head  —  a  rather  unusual  method 
of  obtaining  a  verdict,  even  in  a  police  court. 

The  defendant  in  this  case  was  an  old  colored 
* 'mammy"  who  weighed  about  ninety  pounds  and 
had  a  face  as  black  as  the  inside  of  a  powder  can. 
The  prosecuting  witness  was  a  yellow  negress 
about  twenty  years  of  age,  and  as  flip  of  lip  as 
women  of  her  type  get  to  be.     She  had  caused  the 

[  78] 


EOY  COHEN'S  NEGRO  QUARTER 

arrest  of  the  old  woman  on  a  charge  of  using  pro- 
fane and  abusive  language.  She  took  the  stand 
and  began  a  dramatic  recital  of  what  the  defendant 
was  alleged  to  have  said,  and  the  language  she 
attributed  to  that  old  ^^ mammy''  was  as  lurid  as 
ever  fell  from  vulgar  lips. 

As  the  vile  recital  went  forward  the  small  black 
eyes  of  the  old  woman  darted  lightning  and  her 
body  was  as  tense  as  a  steel  spring.  Suddenly 
she  leaped  to  her  feet,  seized  a  chair,  whirled  it 
above  her  head  and  brought  it  down  with  a  re- 
sounding crash  upon  the  head  of  that  glib  young 
thing.  *^You  brazen  huzzy,"  she  screamed,  ^^you 
can 't  lie  about  me  like  that. ' ' 

Officers  seized  her,  while  other  court  attendants 
picked  up  the  form  of  the  yellow  girl,  which  had 
crumpled  to  the  floor.  Meanwhile  the  judge,  wise 
of  the  ways  of  colored  folk,  inscribed  ^^ Not  guilty" 
after  the  name  of  the  black  ** mammy." 

The  guileless  character  of  the  average  negro  is 
an  asset  in  his  favor  when  he  is  brought  into  court, 
since  the  Southern  judge  has  an  uncanny  gift  of 
reading  what  is  going  on  under  the  woolly  crown, 
but  this  characteristic  develops  some  odd  situa- 
tions at  times,  as  is  illustrated  by  the  experience 
of  a  lawyer  when  called  upon  to  handle  the  case  of 
a  negro  who  was  charged  with  the  theft  of  a  cow. 
The  lawyer  had  known  the  negro  for  a  long  time, 

[  79  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

and,  believing  him  to  be  thoroughly  honest,  he 
agreed  to  take  a  note  for  the  fee,  which  amounted 
to  $50. 

In  due  time  the  case  was  tried,  and  under  the 
skillful  handling  of  the  lawyer  a  verdict  of  ac- 
quittal was  obtained.  Shortly  thereafter  the 
darky  called  at  the  office  of  the  attorney  and  paid 
the  note  in  full. 

*^It's  rather  tough  on  you  to  have  to  pay  out  so 
much  money  after  all  the  trouble  you  had  over  this 
case,"  observed  the  lawyer. 

^'Oh,  it  ain't  as  bad  as  it  might  be,"  replied  the 
darkey,  *'I  got  $35  for  the  cow  and  only  had  to  put 
up  $15  myself." 

The  same  lawyer  was  knocked  breathless  by  the 
conduct  of  another  guileless  member  of  the  colored 
race  in  the  trial  of  a  case  in  which  the  accused  was 
under  indictment  for  an  alleged  wrong  against  a 
negro  woman. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  defense  it  developed 
that  the  woman  making  the  charge  was  a  most 
notorious  character,  and  while  the  defendant  ad- 
mitted being  the  recipient  of  some  of  her  favors, 
it  was  clear  that  he  was  one  among  many.  Under 
the  circumstances  the  la^^^^er  advised  the  accused 
to  tell  the  court  and  the  jury  the  whole  truth, 
assuring  him  that  the  evidence  against  the  woman's 
character  would  result  in  his  acquittal.      To  this 

r  80  ] 


ROY  COHEN'S  NEGRO  QUARTER 

plan  the  negro  agreed  fully  and  without  hesitation. 

When  the  case  came  to  trial,  the  character  of 
the  woman  was  blackened  beyond  redemption,  and 
it  remained  only  for  the  accused  to  speak  his  little 
piece  and  receive  his  discharge. 

**The  defendant  will  take  the  stand,"  announced 
the  lawyer,  and  the  darky  stepped  into  the  witness 
box,  from  which  point  of  vantage  his  eyes  roamed 
over  the  audience. 

'^Now,"  enjoined  the  lawyer,  *^tell  the  jury 
about  your  relations  with  this  woman." 

^*She  ain't  no  relation  o'  mine,"  replied  the 
witness.  *^ What's  more,  I  never  seen  her  in  my 
life  'til  I  cum  into  this  here  court,  an'  I  ain't  never 
had  nuthin  a-tall  to  do  mth  her.  It's  just  a  plum 
pack  o'  lies,  and  besides  I's  got  too  good  a  wife  to 
home  to  be  trapsin'  aroun'  with  no  other  woman." 

As  the  defendant  reeled  off  this  astonishing  fab- 
rication the  jaw  of  his  lawyer  sagged,  and  he 
looked  at  the  witness  for  a  moment  as  if  stupe- 
fied. Then  he  gasped.  ^^ That's  all;  the  defense 
closes." 

At  the  first  opportunity  the  lawyer  asked  his 
client,  **  Why  in  the  world  did  you  get  up  there  and 
tell  what  everybody  in  this  court  room  knows  to 
be  a  lie,  when  I  instructed  you  to  tell  the  truth?" 

**Well,  Boss,"  replied  the  darky,  in  apologetic 
tones,  *^I  guess  you  don't  know  my  wife  is  here 

[  81  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

among  them  present,  else  you  wouldn't  expect  me 
to  make  no  such  'knowledgments.  I  didn't  know 
she  was  anywhere  abouts  'til  I  got  on  the  stand 
an'  saw  her  sittin'  back  there  with  a  hickory  stick 
in  her  ban's,  then  I  made  up  my  min'  sudden  like 
that  it'd  be  a  whole  lot  better  to  take  chances  on 
gettin'  convicted  here  than  to  get  my  head  peeled 
with  that  stick  when  I  gets  outside. ' ' 

The  defendant  was  acquitted,  and,  fortunately 
for  him,  he  did  not  have  to  face  a  trial  for  perjury. 

The  colored  widow  who  went  into  a  store  and, 
after  buying  a  black  dress,  asked  to  be  shown  some 
black  underwear,  saying,  *^When  I  mourns,  I 
mourns,"  illustrated  a  familiar  attribute  of  the 
darky.  '\^^ien  he  lies,  he  lies  with  utter  abandon, 
and  when  he  determines  to  stick  to  the  truth,  he 
does  it  with  admirable  tenacity,  which  reminds  me 
of  another  court  scene,  one  that  I  did  not  have  the 
pleasure  of  witnessing,  but  which  was  described 
to  me  as  authentic. 

The  case  in  which  this  incident  developed  in- 
volved the  title  to  a  valuable  plantation,  and  one 
of  the  most  important  witnesses  was  a  colored 
farmer.  Recognizing  the  vital  nature  of  the 
negro's  evidence,  the  gentleman  whose  property 
was  in  Etigation  did  all  he  could  to  impress  upon 
the  witness  the  importance  of  understanding  fully 
every  question  asked  him  during  the  trial  of  the 

[82] 


EOY  COHEN'S  NEGRO  QUARTER 

case.  **You  will  be  asked  a  great  many  ques- 
tions,'' he  said,  ^^and  the  lawyers  on  the  other  side 
will  do  all  they  can  to  confuse  you.  So  take  plenty 
of  time  and  be  sure  you  know  what  the  question  is 
before  you  make  any  attempt  to  answer."  Thus 
schooled,  the  negro  took  the  stand  when  the  case 
was  called,  and  thereupon  the  following  dialogue 
occurred : 

*  ^  What 's  your  name  ? ' '  asked  the  lawyer. 
^^Fust  name  or  last  name?"  countered  the  wit- 
ness. 

^^Both." 

*^My  fust  name  is  Bill  for  short  an'  my  last 
name  is  Johnson." 

'*Well,  Bill,  where  do  you  live?" 
^^Whatcher  mean,  town  or  county?" 
^^I  mean  town  and  county." 
"I  don't  live  in  no  town." 

*  ^  Then  where  do  you  live  ? ' ' 

*^I  lives  on  the  Warrior  River  near  Car-dovy." 
*' Which  side  of  the  river  do  you  live  on?" 
^'Whatcher  mean,  goin'  up  'er  or  down  'er?" 
^^Well,  suppose  we  say  going  up  her?" 
**Goin'  up  'er  I  lives  on  the  right  side;   goin' 
down  'er  I  lives  on  the  left  side." 
*^ Can  you  read?" 

''Wliatcher  mean,  printin'  or  writin'?" 
**Can  you  read  either  printing  or  writing?" 
[  83  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

<*No,  suh." 

**Say,"  exclaimed  the  lawyer,  who  had  become 
somewhat  irritated  by  the  subdued  giggles  his  en- 
counter with  the  darky  had  evoked,  ^^ ar'n't  you 
something  of  a  fool?" 

**Wliatcher  mean,  a  plain  'un  or  a  dam  'un!" 
asked  the  negro,  and  the  court  found  it  necessary 
to  call  on  the  bailiff  to  restore  order. 

However,  not  all  negroes  are  such  sticklers  for 
accuracy.  I  recall  visiting  a  negro  in  his  cell  one 
morning  just  before  he  was  to  be  led  forth  to  the 
gallows.  Face  to  face  with,  the  unfathomable 
things  of  eternity,  this  darky  had  groped  about  for 
some  limb  of  truth  upon  which  he  might  hang  his 
faith,  and  this  is  what  he  had  found:  *' Blessed  is 
them  that  is  persecuted."  With  this  phrase  fixed 
firmly  in  his  mind,  he  paced  his  narrow  cell,  re- 
peating the  words  over  and  over,  **The  good  Lord 
says,  *  Blessed  is  them  that  is  persecuted.'  "  And 
thus  he  went  to  his  death,  a  poor  trembling  wretch, 
knowing  not  that  he  had  left  off  the  clause  **for 
righteousness  sake"  in  quoting  the  promise  of  the 
Savior,  and  ignorant  also  of  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  words  *^ persecuted"  and  *' prosecuted." 

The  story  is  told  that  a  condemned  negro,  when 
standing  upon  the  gallows,  was  asked  if  he  had 
any  statement  to  make  before  the  end,  and  that  he 
replied : 

[  84  ] 


EOY  COHEN  ^S  NEGRO  QUARTER 

*'A11 1  got  to  say  is  that  this  sure  is  goin'  to  be 
a  powerful  lesson  to  me.'' 

So  it  must  have  been  with  reference  to  the  exe- 
cutions they  had  with  such  frequency  in  those 
long-gone  days  when,  in  the  capacity  of  a  reporter, 
I  stood  in  the  high-walled  yard  back  of  that  old 
jail  and  saw  so  many  criminals  drop  through  the 
trap  to  be  brought  up  short  at  the  end  of  a  taut 
and  merciless  rope.  Those  grim  illustrations  of 
the  power  and  the  purpose  of  outraged  law  must 
have  made  a  profound  impression  upon  the  race, 
both  black  and  white,  for  hangings  have  become 
less  frequent,  although  Birmingham's  population 
has  increased  five-fold  since  that  period,  and  there 
has  been  a  steady  growth  in  the  demand  for  law 
enforcement. 


3n  r  fi"r'i  ■'l^fij^i^iii* 


[  85  ] 


CHAPTER   VII 


VISIONS   OF   BEAUTY 


THE  Bee  Line  Highway,  over  wliicli  thou- 
sands of  tourists  flock  back  and  forth  wdth 
the  changing  seasons,  enters  from  the 
South  at  a  long  bridge  spanning  the  Cahaba  Eiver. 
When  the  automobile  rolls  across  this  bridge  into 
Jefferson  County,  of  which  Birmingham  is  the 
center,  it  is  upon  a  magnificent  road,  perfect  in 
construction  and  exceptional  in  scenic  beauty. 
There  begins  at  once  a  slow  but  steady  climb 
toward  the  peak  of  Shades  Mountain,  from  the 
crest  of  which  green  valleys  stretch  into  the  dis- 
tance, and  to  the  South  of  which  lies  Red  Moun- 
tain, yet  to  be  negotiated  before  Birmingham  is 
reached. 

Dropping  down  Shades  Mountain  on  the  perfect 
asphalt  road  is  an  experience  one  cannot  forget. 

[  86  ] 


VISIONS   OF  BEAUTY 

While  the  Southern  slope  is  gentle,  the  fall  to  the 
North  is  abrapt,  and  the  highway  zig-zags  in  a 
most  astonishing  manner.  The  roadway  is  laid 
upon  a  series  of  shelves,  cut  into  the  mountain 
side,  and  as  the  terminus  of  each  shelf  is  reached 
there  is  a  sharp  reverse  curve,  leading  to  the  next. 
On  one  hand  the  mountain  rises  sheer,  while  on  the 
other  it  drops  at  times  to  fearsome  depths. 
Fences,  beautifully  white,  or,  at  more  dangerous 
points,  strong  stone  walls,  warn  the  tourist  of  the 
danger,  and  accidents  are  few.  But  always  there 
is  the  exhilaration  that  comes  with  a  suggestion 
of  peril. 

Another  bridge  and  another  river,  and  when  one 
crosses  there  begins  the  ascent  of  Red  Mountain, 
out  of  whose  heart  comes  much  of  the  iron  that 
feeds  the  furnaces  of  this  district.  As  in  the  case 
of  Shades  Mountain,  the  ascent  here  is  somewhat 
gradual,  while  the  Northern  slope  is  even  more 
abrupt  than  that  of  Shades  Mountain. 

Let  us  hope  that  the  tourist  who  comes  over  this 
highway  reaches  the  peak  of  Red  Mountain  just 
as  the  shades  of  night  have  fallen,  for  it  is  then 
that  the  scene  becomes  most  entrancing. 

As  the  peak  of  the  mountain  is  approached,  the 
road  drops  into  a  deep  cut,  spanned  at  the  very 
top  by  a  railroad  bridge.  As  the  car  rolls  from 
under  this  bridge,  upon  the  high  Northern  shelf 

[  87  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

of  the  mountain,  there  bursts  upon  the  vision  — 
Birmingham.  Not  a  glimpse  of  the  city  until  now, 
and  now  a  glorious  vision  of  the  whole ! 

Three  hundred  feet  below  it  stretches  mile  on 
mile.  A  million  stars  seem  to  sparkle  down  there 
in  the  purple  darkness,  while  to  the  right  and  to 
the  left,  and  in  the  far,  vague  background,  there 
glows  the  deep  red  of  furnace  fires ;  fires  that  turn 
the  evening  heavens  into  rose  and  lend  fantastic 
beauty  to  the  fleecy  clouds.  Lights  glow  in  forty 
thousand  homes.  Eoav  upon  row,  the  street  lamps 
stretch  into  the  distance,  and  just  below,  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  city,  huge  office  buildings  tower 
high,  their  forms  but  vaguely  sketched  in  dreamy 
squares  of  light.  To  the  right,  far  below,  two  arcs 
of  radiance  are  clearly  seen,  marking  the  curvature 
of  the  magnificent  new  viaduct  which  spans  the 
railroads  and  carries  one  into  the  very  heart  of 
the  city. 

How  many  times  have  I  come  through  that  gap 
in  Red  Mountam,  with  vision  circumscribed  by 
towering  banks  of  red,  and  then  paused  at  the  exit 
to  gaze  entranced  upon  the  picture  below!  Beau- 
tiful Birmingham,  beautiful  in  its  setting,  beauti- 
ful in  the  character  and  the  ideals  of  its  people, 
and  beautiful  in  the  nature  of  its  accomplishments ! 
One  cannot  gaze  upon  you  here  without  feeling  the 
presence  of  something  fine  and  sweet  and  true. 

[  88  1 


VISIONS   OF  BEAUTY 

Your  starry  reaches  suggest  the  infinite;  your 
night-time  beauty  the  City  Celestial! 

Dropping  down  Red  Mountain,  one  is  in  the 
city  at  once,  Birmingham's  most  fashionable  resi- 
dential district  hugging  the  side  of  these  heights 
for  several  miles.  One  may  turn  sharply  to  the 
left  after  descending  the  mountain  for  a  half  mile, 
and  be  in  the  center  of  the  business  district  in  five 
minutes,  or  he  can  go  mile  on  mile  along  beautiful 
highways  that  twist  and  bend  and  rise  and  fall 
as  they  lend  themselves  to  the  changing  contour. 
From  Highland  Avenue,  the  beauty  of  which  is 
known  the  country  over,  he  sweeps  up  the  moun- 
tain through  Mihier  Heights,  and  there,  after  per- 
forming a  wide  circuit  that  affords  a  fine  view  of 
the  sleeping  valley  to  the  South,  he  comes  again 
to  the  Northern  crest  of  the  mountain,  and  again 
beholds  the  panorama  of  Birmingham  from  a  road- 
way that  seems  ever  ready  to  tumble  into  the 
depths  below,  restrained  only  by  a  stout  stone  wall 
that  parallels  its  Northern  side. 

To  the  North  there  is  a  sharp  descent,  and  then 
another  swift  climb  along  a  circuitous  route,  which 
leads  again  to  Milner  Crescent,  and  back  to  High- 
land Avenue.  Along  this  thoroughfare  for  a  mile, 
and  there  is  Cliff  Road.  It  becomes  steep  at  once, 
but  the  car  can  negotiate  the  grade,  straight-away. 
In  a  little  while,  however,  there  comes  a  sharp  re- 

[89] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

verse  curve,  and  then  back  and  forth,  tier  upon 
tier,  the  road  zig-zags  up  the  mountain.  There 
another  circuit  to  the  right,  and  then  back  to  the 
same  point,  from  whence,  straight  ahead,  are  twin- 
highways,  one  running  up  to  the  very  peak  of  a 
higher  point  on  the  mountain,  and  the  other  trail- 
ing along  a  lower  shelf.  These  highways  unite  be- 
yond this  peak,  and  then  comes  another  sharp  de- 
scent, this  time  through  Mountain  Terrace,  and 
back  again  to  Highland  Avenue. 

Eeaching  Lower  Highland  Avenue,  one  is  again 
confronted  with  a  choice  of  parallel  routes,  one 
sweeping  by  the  lake  that  nestles  in  front  of  the 
Country  Club,  and  the  other  along  the  Eastern 
crest  of  Chestnut  Hill.  Three  great  stone  stair- 
ways connect  these  parallel  highways  between  the 
points  of  divergence,  adding  to  the  dignity  and 
charm  of  the  scene. 

From  here  the  tourist  might  turn  again  toward 
the  mountain  and  run  over  asphalt  roads  to  two 
beautiful  and  highly  exclusive  residential  parks, 
Grlen  Iris  and  Idlewild,  but  it  is  time  to  see  some- 
thing of  the  hills  beyond  the  city,  so  he  continues 
along  Lower  Highland  Avenue  to  Twenty-First 
Street,  across  the  long  and  graceful  viaduct  which 
spans  the  railroads,  and  so  through  the  business 
section  to  the  North  Highlands.  Here  the  ground 
rises  almost  as  high  as  it  does  on  the  South  side, 

[90] 


VISIONS   OF  BEAUTY 

but  the  ascent  is  so  gradual  that  one  scarcely  is 
conscious  of  the  change  in  altitude. 

To  the  East  is  Norwood,  the  central  feature  of 
which  is  the  winding  boulevard  two  hundred  feet 
in  width,  with  a  parkway  running  through  its 
center  from  end  to  end.  Here,  on  summer  days, 
honeysuckles  bloom  in  wild  profusion,  and  the 
night  air  is  sweet  with  their  subtle  odor.  All  along 
the  way  Crepe-myrtle  bushes  almost  attain  the 
dignity  of  trees,  and  there  are  thousands  of  climb- 
ing roses,  calla-lilies  and  other  blossoms  to  greet 
the  eye  when  such  things  are  in  season. 

Homes,  ranging  from  dainty  bungalows  to  pala- 
tial mansions,  flank  all  these  splendid  driveways, 
the  largest  and  most  costly  being  found  in  the 
South  Highlands  section.  Noting  the  wild  topog- 
raphy in  some  quarters,  one  is  disposed  to  wonder 
at  the  courage  of  the  men  who  dared  to  convert 
such  rugged  hillsides  into  the  dwelling  places.  On 
many  winding  thoroughfares  the  ground  rises 
sharply  on  one  hand  and  falls  wdth  equal  sharp- 
ness on  the  other,  the  homes  upon  one  side  stand- 
ing high  above  the  roadway,  upon  such  steep  in- 
clines that  one  marvels  they  do  not  slip  from  their 
foundations ;  while  on  the  other  the  houses  are  on 
a  level  with  the  street  in  front,  but  have  in  some 
cases  two  and  even  three  floors  below  the  level  in 
the  rear. 

[  91  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

How  to  beautify  homes  so  situated  must  have 
been  a  puzzling  problem  in  the  beginning,  but  this, 
like  many  other  problems  connected  with  the  build- 
ing of  the  city,  was  solved  in  a  happy  fashion,  and 
the  surroundings  of  many  of  these  queerly  placed 
residences  are  striking  in  their  originahty.  Mul- 
tiple terraces  in  the  front,  and  sunken  gardens, 
dropping  one  below  the  other,  at  the  rear,  form  a 
common  scheme  of  landscape  architecture. 

The  hero  of  many  of  these  amazing  ventures 
upon  rugged  mountain  sides,  where  frowning  walls 
have  been  converted  into  places  of  beauty  and 
utility,  is  ' '  Young  Bob ' '  Jemison,  called  ' '  Young, ' ' 
to  distinguish  him  from  his  father,  Robert,  Sr., 
who  also  belonged  to  the  pioneer  class,  having 
been  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  estabhshing  mail 
routes  in  Alabama  before  the  coming  of  the  rail- 
road, and  later,  doing  a  man's  size  job  in  develop- 
ing a  street  railway  system  in  Birmingham.     In 
those  old  stage-coach  days,  Robert  Jemison,  Sr., 
resided  at  Tuscaloosa,  the  ancient  capital  of  Ala- 
bama, and  Colonel  James  R.  Powell,  then  of  Mont- 
gomery, but  who  afterwards  became  the  ''Duke  of 
Birmingham, ' '  were  rivals  in  this  line.    They  were 
close  competitors  for  the  postal  business  of  the 
government,  and  their  fight  for  passenger  traffic 
was  equally  warm.    Each  was  forced  to  recognize 
the  mettle  of  the  other,  and  in  the  end  they  consoli- 

[  92  ] 


VISIONS   OF  BEAUTY 

dated  their  interest,  and  became  giants  in  the 
stage-coach  game,  holding  their  own  against  all 
rivals  until  the  coming  of  the  railroads. 

When  *^ Young  Bob,''  full  of  the  fighting  spirit 
of  his  sire,  undertook  to  cut  highways  along  the 
forbidding  side  of  Red  Mountain,  many  thought  he 
would  be  sent  back  to  the  ancestral  home  in  Tusca- 
loosa, where  is  located  the  institution  for  the  re- 
pair of  broken-down  mental  machinery,  since  there 
seemed  no  place  upon  which  to  put  houses  along 
some  of  these  highways.  But  that  was  long  ago, 
and  now  the  highways  are  flanked  by  beautiful 
homes  and  *^ Young  Bob"  is  conceded  to  have 
sense  as  well  as  sand. 

Another  bold  explorer  of  land  that  lies  mostly 
on  edge  is  ^^Key"  Milner,  son  of  Major  W.  J.  Mil- 
ner,  who  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Birmingham 
and  who  not  only  designed  that  wonderful  thor- 
oughfare. Highland  Avenue,  but  built  the  great 
water  works  system  which  today  supplies  the  city, 
and  also  was  a  pioneer  in  the  transportation  field. 
It  was  in  mapping  a  route  for  a  *^ dummy  line" 
that  Major  Milner  designed  Highland  Avenue. 
By  a  ** dummy  line"  is  meant  a  street  railway  on 
which  cars  are  drawn  by  a  steam  engine,  snugly 
ensconed  in  what  looks  like  a  cross  between  a 
modern  street  car  and  an  ancient  tool  house.  To 
his  son  is  due  the  development  of  one  of  Birming- 

[93] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

ham's  most  beautiful  mountain-side  residential 
districts.  It  has  been  said  that  only  three  animals 
would  have  invaded  the  mountain  sides  as  they 
have  been  invaded  here,  the  three  being  ^' Young 
Bob/'  ^^Key/'  and  the  mountain  goat. 

Since  the  mountain  sides  were  conquered  some 
years  ago,  the  time  of  home  building  has  swept  to 
the  crest,  and  today  many  splendid  residences 
stand  on  the  very  top.  Indeed,  the  most  palatial 
homes  in  the  city  are  found  upon  these  heights; 
the  cost  running  from  tens  of  thousands  to  hun- 
dreds of  thousands.  This  is  a  new  development, 
however,  and  wide  spaces  separate  the  homes  at 
this  time. 

In  addition  to  the  heights  described  above,  there 
is  a  third  great  division  known  as  the  Ensley  High- 
lands, situated  in  the  Western  portion  of  the  city 
and  overlooking  the  vast  industrial  section  that 
stretches  on  toward  the  setting  sun.  The  ground 
here  is  not  so  high  and  rugged  as  on  Red  Moun- 
tain, but  it  has  been  beautifully  improved  and  con- 
tains many  handsome  homes.  This  section  was 
developed  largely  through  the  vision  of  R.  A.  Ter- 
rell, another  conspicuous  figure  among  the  far- 
seeing  pioneers. 

In  the  long  and  winding  valley  between  these 
heights  are  a  dozen  or  more  residence  communi- 
ties where  live  the  thousands  whose  bank  rolls  are 

[  94] 


VISIONS   OF  BEAUTY 

not  plethoric.  Snug  bungalows  predominate  in 
most  of  these  communities,  but  in  practically  all 
of  them  there  are  a  number  of  large  and  preten- 
tious homes. 

Particularly  is  this  true  of  Elyton,  the  ancient 
county  site,  long  since  swallowed  up  by  the  city 
which  took  away  its  court  house  in  that  amazing 
election  in  1872.  Here,  upon  a  beautiful  knoll, 
with  wide  stretches  of  green,  stands  the  old  colo- 
nial residence  of  E.  S.  Hunger,  millionaire  in- 
ventor of  the  Hunger  gin,  while  all  around  are 
clustered  handsome  homes  of  the  most  modern 
type. 

While  several  suburban  communities  have 
grown  up  hap-hazard,  having  failed  to  learn  the 
lesson  in  city  planning  from  Birmingham,  a  num- 
ber of  these  centers  of  population  were  developed 
with  the  aid  of  skilled  landscape  architects,  and 
have  about  them  none  of  the  ear-marks  of  acci- 
dental growth. 

Fairfield,  one  of  the  larger  suburbs,  where  many 
employees  of  the  Steel  Corporation  subsidiaries 
reside,  has  been  given  unstinted  praise  by  Colonel 
Roosevelt,  by  Haude  Adams,  and  by  others  inter- 
ested in  making  proper  provision  for  the  toiler. 
A  splendid  boulevard,  with  a  parkway  running 
through  its  center,  constitutes  the  main  thorough- 
fare, while  from  it  radiates  numerous  streets  and 

[  95  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

avenues  that  would  be  a  credit  to  any  residence 
community. 

Westleigh  and  Central  Park  were  designed  by  the 
same  architect,  and  are  dotted  with  snug  and  at- 
tractive dwellings.  East  Lake,  Woodlawn,  Avon- 
dale,  North  Birmingham  and  West  End  are  older 
suburbs  that  have  grown  harmoniously  and  pos- 
sess the  air  of  restfulness  and  comfort  that  belongs 
to  communities  peopled  by  home-owning  and 
home-loving  citizens. 

The  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  &  Railroad  Com- 
pany, and  other  subsidiaries  of  the  United  States 
Steel  Corporation,  long  ago  adopted  a  policy  of 
surrounding  their  various  enterprises  with  a 
wholesome  atmosphere,  and  throughout  the  entire 
Birmingham  district  may  be  found  communities 
where  the  greatest  care  has  been  given  the  matter 
of  housing.  In  many  instances  even  the  smallest 
homes  have  been  given  marks  of  distinction,  and 
in  numerous  cases  an  additional  incentive  is  given 
for  adding  charm  to  these  small  dwelhngs.  Prizes 
are  offered  from  time  to  time  to  stimulate  interest 
in  making  the  communities  more  attractive,  and 
every  effort  is  made  to  keep  ahve  the  spirit  of 
pride  in  home  and  town.  Unhappily,  this  spirit 
did  not  dominate  in  the  early  days,  and  in  conse- 
quence there  are  a  number  of  communities  in  the 
mining    fields    where    such    matters    have    been 

[  96  ] 


VISIONS   OF   BEAUTY 

neglected.  However,  tlie  encouraging  thing  is  that 
no  new  communities  are  forming  without  having 
about  them  some  suggestion  of  appreciation  for 
beauty  as  well  as  utility.  *^ Model  camps''  have 
become  the  ideal  in  mining  circles,  and  conditions 
steadily  are  improving.  So  much  for  the  power  of 
example. 

Regardless  of  what  has  been  said,  or  what  may 
be  said,  about  the  absorption  of  the  Tennessee 
Company  by  the  Steel  Corporation,  it  generally  is 
conceded  in  Alabama  that  the  development  was  a 
fortunate  one.  The  Tennessee  Company  was  des- 
perately hard  up  most  of  the  time  and  had  no 
money  for  applying  artistic  touches.  No  grim 
struggle  for  existence  faces  the  present  owners, 
and  the  time  and  money  necessary  for  making 
flowers  grow  about  industrial  plants  has  been 
forthcoming. 

Another  gratifying  thing  is  the  spirit  of  co- 
operation which  exists  between  the  great  indus- 
trial agencies  and  the  municipalities  wdtli  which 
they  come  in  contact.  This  attitude  is  illustrated 
by  the  fact  that  more  than  half  the  cost  of  Birm- 
ingham's latest,  largest  and  most  modern  public 
swimming  pool  was  contributed  by  the  Tennessee 
Company.  This  great  double  pool,  placed  in 
Ensley  Park,  cost  $48,000,  and  $25,000  of  the 
amount  was  given  to  the  city  by  the  company  be- 

[97  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

cause  thousands  of  its  employees  reside  in  that 
community.  The  expenditures  of  this  company 
along  aesthetic  lines  are  lavish  and  the  results  ob- 
tained in  many  instances  are  astounding. 

In  Acipco,  another  suburb,  a  new  school  was 
erected  recently  by  the  Board  of  Education  of 
Birmingham,  and  the  American  Cast  Iron  Pipe 
Company  contributed  $25,000  to  the  cost  of  the 
structure  in  order  that  it  might  be  equipped  with 
reading  rooms,  a  lecture  hall,  and  other  features 
for  community  use.  The  company  also  aided  ma- 
terially in  fitting  up  the  playgrounds  which  sur- 
round the  school.  This  organization  maintains  a 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  building, 
recreational  fields,  shower  baths,  etc.,  for  all  its 
employees.  Its  homes  for  negro  workers  are 
models  of  utility,  each  one  being  provided  mth  a 
bathroom  —  a  new  and  extraordinary  departure. 

The  Stockham  Pipe  &  Fittings  Company,  an- 
other large  industrial  agency,  pro^ddes  a  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  building  with  numerous  attractive  features, 
and  makes  every  effort  to  combine  wholesome  and 
happy  living  with  utilitarianism. 

The  Republic  Iron  &  Steel  Company,  which  re- 
cently tendered  a  large  piece  of  property  to  the 
city  for  school  purposes,  has  surrounded  its  works 
at  Thomas  mth  numerous  e\ddences  of  apprecia- 
tion for  the  beautiful.    The  Sloss,  the  Woodward 

[  98  ] 


VISIONS   OF  BEAUTY 

and  other  companies  also  count  money  spent  in 
this  fashion  as  money  well  invested,  and  the  re^ 
suit  here  has  been  to  close  forever  that  unhappy 
period  when  the  building  of  mills  and  the  open- 
ing of  mines  meant  the  establishment  of  towns 
characterized  by  stark  and  naked  ugliness. 


[  99  ] 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  PEOPLE  AT  PLAY 

IN  the  very  beginning  the  founders  of  Birming- 
ham, composed  largely  of  young  men,  recog- 
nized the  necessity  of  recreational  features, 
and  in  the  original  plans  provisions  was  made  for 
a  number  of  parks,  the  property  being  dedicated 
for  this  purpose.  Among  the  earliest  structures 
was  a  pa\dlion  for  recreational  purposes,  and  here 
the  people  met  to  dance,  to  enjoy  an  occasional 
concert  of  amateur  entertainment,  or  to  hear  the 
issues  of  the  day  discussed  by  the  orators  of  that 
period.  In  naming  this  pavilion,  the  sense  of 
humor,  so  pronounced  in  those  first  days,  was 
again  in  evidence.  It  was  ^'The  Crystal  Palace,'' 
'though  hastily  thrown  together  and  made  of 
rough  lumber,  and  ha\dng  no  crystal  about  it  un- 
less an  occasional  pitcher  on  the  speaker's  stand 
could  be  counted  under  this  heading. 

Today,  after  the  passage  of  fifty  years,  Birming- 

r  100  ] 


THE  PEOPLE  AT  PLAY 

ham  still  is  a  young  man's  town.  Its  growth 
during  the  past  twenty  years  has  exceeded  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand,  and  a  large  part  of  this 
increase  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  young 
men  have  been  attracted  here  in  large  numbers 
because  of  the  opportunities  created  by  the  rap- 
idly expanding  industrial  and  commercial  life. 
This  condition  has  brought  about  a  constantly 
growing  demand  for  recreational  features,  and 
sports  thrive  here  to  an  unusual  extent. 

The  topography  of  the  land,  not  unlike  a  storm- 
tossed  ocean,  is  peculiarly  adapted  for  golf,  and 
two  splendid  country  clubs  have  links  that  are  a 
source  of  delight  to  devotees  of  this  sport. 

The  Country  Club,  the  oldest  and  most  popular 
organization,  has  extensive  grounds  w^ell  within 
the  city  limits  and  within  a  few  minutes '  ride  of  the 
heart  of  the  city.  The  club  house,  a  beautiful  and 
spacious  building,  nestles  upon  a  shelf  of  Red 
Mountain,  while  in  the  foreground  is  a  charming 
lake.  To  the  right  of  this  lake  the  links  roll  off 
into  the  distance,  presenting  an  entrancing  view 
and  offering  rare  sport  to  followers  of  the  pitted 
ball. 

The  Roebuck  Springs   Golf  Club  lies  up  the 

valley  nine  miles  from  the  heart  of  the  city,  being 

reached  by  a  paved  thoroughfare.    It,  too,  has  an 

attractive  club  house  with  a   sparkling  lake  in 

[  101  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIEMINGHAM 

front,  and  is  surrounded  by  grounds  of  great  natu- 
ral charm.  The  links  rank  among  the  best  in 
the  South  and  are  the  scene  of  many  spirited 
contests. 

Baseball,  the  great  national  sport,  has  the  com- 
munity firmly  in  its  grasp,  and  this  city  usually 
leads  the  Southern  League  in  point  of  attendance. 
Eickwood  Field,  where  the  games  are  staged,  is 
not  only  one  of  the  most  modern  baseball  plants 
in  the  country,  but  is  a  perpetual  advertisement 
of  Birmingham's  resources.  Go  to  a  game  and 
open  a  conversation  with  your  neighbor.  If  he 
is  a  Birmingham  man,  and  he  learns  that  you  are 
a  stranger,  he  will  unfold  a  story  that  mil  run 
about  like  this : 

*'See  that  mountain  over  there  f 

Superfluous  question,  for  the  mountain  looms 
before  you,  dark  and  green,  except  where  it  has 
been  torn  asunder  and  forced  to  disgorge  its 
metallic  content,  but  you  answer  ^'Yes." 

^'AVell,''  he  will  proceed,  ^'the  iron  that  entered 
into  this  steel  structure  was  dug  from  that  moun- 
tain. When  you  leave  the  stand  after  the  game, 
look  over  to  the  West  and  you  will  see  smoke  aris- 
ing from  the  furnace  where  the  ore  was  smelted, 
and  just  beyond  that  point  you  will  notice  a  series 
of  towering  stacks.  That's  where  the  iron  was 
converted  into  steel.    Beyond  that  point  is  the  mill 

[  102  ] 


THE  PEOPLE  AT  PLAY 

where  the  steel  was  fabricated  into  girders,  just 
as  you  see  them  here.  Not  only  so,  but  within  a 
few  miles  of  this  very  spot  is  the  mine  from  which 
the  coal  was  dug  that  furnished  the  fuel  for  trans- 
forming the  ore  into  iron  and  the  iron  into  steel. 
And  that's  not  all  the  story:  You  will  note  that 
the  grandstand  and  bleachers  are  made  of  con- 
crete. Well,  if  your  eyes  could  pierce  that  moun- 
tain over  there  you  would  be  able  to  see  the 
smudge  of  smoke  above  one  of  the  greatest  cement 
manufacturing  plants  in  the  South.  In  other 
words,  all  the  materials  entering  into  this  huge 
plant  were  produced  within  a  few  miles  of  where 
we  are  sitting.    Can  you  beat  it?'' 

You  acknowledge  that  you  can't  and  the  local 
citizen  smiles  his  approval. 

Coveleskie,  one  of  the  world's  great  pitchers, 
once  belonged  to  the  Birmingham  team,  and  estab- 
lished here  the  record  that  carried  him  into  the 
big  league  and  thence  to  fame.  This,  however, 
was  not  the  Coveleskie  who,  while  pitching  for 
Philadelphia,  once  overlooked  the  fact  that  there 
was  a  man  on  first  and  allowed  the  runner  to  go 
to  second,  and  who  thereby  became  the  butt  of  a 
caustic  joke  by  Manager  Murray.  *^ Honestly," 
Coveleskie  explained  to  Murray  on  leaving  the  box, 
**I  didn't  know  that  there  was  a  man  on  first." 
*VOh,   you   didn't,"   purred  Murray,    **then,    of 

[  103  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

course,  that  makes  it  all  ri^-lit."  He  then  called 
Eddie  Grant  over  and  said  to  him:  ^^The  next  time 
there  is  a  man  on  first,  I  want  you  to  go  over  and 
tell  Covie  all  about  it.  I'm  not  going  to  have  any 
secrets  among  my  players." 

The  hero  of  this  incident  was  a  brother  of  the 
Birmingham  Coveleskie. 

Frank  Smith,  who  also  became  a  top-notcher 
when  promoted  to  the  big  league,  was  a  Birming- 
ham player,  and  he  carried  with  him  the  fame  of 
having  knocked  the  longest  drive  ever  seen  on  the 
local  diamond.  It  cleared  the  left  field  bases  —  and 
the  bases. 

While  Smith  was  cleaning  up  all  the  rival 
Southern  League  teams  wdth  his  swift  and  puz- 
zling curves,  and  was  at  the  height  of  his  South- 
ern League  fame,  he  suddenly  disappeared  on  one 
occasion  and  was  not  seen  for  several  days. 
Shortly  after  his  return  from  this  mysterious  ab- 
sence, the  story  leaked  out  that  he  had  been  over 
to  a  small  town  in  Georgia  where  the  local  fans 
had  made  up  their  minds  to  beat  a  rival  team  if  it 
took  all  the  money  in  the  town.  With  this  end  in 
view,  they  made  a  secret  deal  with  the  South 's 
premier  pitcher.  The  result  was  an  overwhelming 
victory  —  not  for  them  but  for  the  hated  rivals. 
Those  town-lot  boys  from  the  neighboring  village 
pounded  the  ** premier''  to  a  fare-you-well,  and 

[  104  ] 


THE  PEOPLE  AT  PLAY 

walked  off  with  the  game.  So  far  as  I  know,  they 
are  still  ignorant  of  the  identity  of  the  great 
pitcher  they  lambasted  on  that  occasion. 

Birmingham  has  two  attractive  amusement 
parks,  East  Lake,  owned  and  operated  by  the  city, 
and  Edgewood  Park,  privately  owned.  Recrea- 
tional parks  are  numerous  but  are  not  well  de- 
veloped. Two  of  these  parks,  one  containing  a 
hundred  acres  and  the  other  two  hundred  acres, 
are  endowed  with  great  natural  beauty,  but  as  yet 
have  not  been  developed  by  the  municipality.  But 
while  the  city  lags  in  the  improvement  of  its 
larger  parks,  great  progress  has  been  made  in  the 
matter  of  playgrounds.  These  playgrounds  are 
numerous,  well  equipped  and  are  given  competent 
supervision.  Moreover,  the  number  is  multiplying 
with  -great  rapidity,  showing  an  evident  deter- 
mination to  provide  properly  for  the  young  life  of 
the  community.  During  the  present  year  two 
public  swimming  pools  were  opened,  one  repre- 
senting an  investment  of  nearly  $50,000  and  being 
perfect  in  its  appointments,  including  a  violet  ray 
purification  plant. 

Where  the  city  is  notably  lax  is  in  its  failure  to 
provide  parks  for  the  colored  population.  This  is 
due,  as  is  the  failure  properly  to  improve  the  large 
undeveloped  parks  set  aside  for  white  people,  to 
the  fact  that  for  years  the  city  operated  upon  in- 

[  105  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

adequate  revenues.  Until  1920,  wlien  a  constitu- 
tional amendment  was  adopted  granting  an  in- 
crease of  fifty  cents  in  tlie  tax  rate,  Birmingham's 
rate  was  one  dollar  on  the  one  hundred  dollars  — 
the  lowest  of  any  city  in  its  class  in  the  United 
States.  Under  the  circumstances  the  municipality 
was  able  to  provide  little  beyond  the  bare  neces- 
sities. However,  with  a  fifty  per  cent  increase  in 
the  tax  income,  effective  in  1921,  it  is  probable 
that  substantial  progress  will  be  made  along  the 
lines  of  park  development.  The  program  of  im- 
provement includes  at  least  one  park  exclusively 
for  the  colored  population. 

The  Warrior  River,  which  furnishes  Birming- 
ham with  water  transportation  to  the  Gulf,  is 
growing  as  a  recreational  center  for  the  citizens 
of  Birmingham  who  own  automobiles,  and  it  holds 
forth  promise  of  becoming  a  great  factor  in  the 
life  of  the  community  with  the  development  of 
transportation  facilities. 

The  Warrior  constitutes  the  greatest  canalized 
stream  in  America,  and  with  the  erection  of  the 
mighty  dams  which  made  it  navigable  to  Birming- 
hamport,  vast  areas  were  inundated  between  the 
mountains  that  stretch  for  miles  along  the  course  of 
the  stream,  and  more  picturesque  scenes  scarcely 
could  be  imagined.  Some  of  these  mountains  are 
covered  thickly  with  towering  trees,  green  as  em- 

[  106  ] 


THE  PEOPLE  AT  PLAY 

erald  in  summer  and  shot  with  radiance  in  the 
early  winter,  while  others  display  immense  out- 
croppings  of  limestone.  Frequently  one  may  see, 
imbedded  in  this  soft  and  porous  stone,  great 
spheres  of  harder  stone,  as  though  some  giant 
had  moulded  cannon  balls  of  molten  granite  and 
shot  them  into  the  softer  stone.  The  water,  which 
backs  into  every  valley,  is  beautifully  clear,  and 
contains  bass,  perch,  brim,  and  other  varieties  of 
fish.  Numerous  rough  camps,  open  to  vacation- 
ists, have  been  established  along  the  river  and  its 
tributaries,  but  no  comprehensive  scheme  of  devel- 
oping the  wonderful  recreational  possibilities  has 
been  adopted  as  yet.  That  this  will  come  in  the 
future  is  certain.  Meanwhile  almost  perfect  high- 
ways furnish  a  ready  means  of  reaching  the  scene, 
and  thousands  go  there  during  the  summer  months. 
For  those  who  want  their  recreation  at  their 
elbow,  so  to  speak,  Birmingham  provides  two 
splendid  institutions  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  and  the  Birmingham  Athletic  Club. 
These  buildings  stand  cheek-by- jowl  on  Twentieth 
Street,  within  a  few  minutes'  walk  of  the  center 
of  town,  and,  forming  the  third  in  a  wholesome 
trinity,  is  the  Southern  Club.  These  three  build- 
ings, all  in  a  row,  seem  to  typify  the  get-together 
spirit  of  the  community  in  which  they  function. 
The  Southern  Club  is  the  pioneer  social  club  of 

[  107  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

the  city  and  occupies  a  pre-eminent  position.  Its 
home  is  commodious,  dignified  and  restful.  The 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  much  the  larger  building  of  the 
three  and  houses  a  virile  organization  which  is 
playing  a  tremendous  part  in  the  lives  of  the  young 
men  of  the  community.  Sandwiched  between  the 
two,  the  Athletic  Club  maintains  a  remarkably 
active  organization,  staging  many  thrilling  ring 
events  and  furnishing  w^orthy  competitors  in  ath- 
letic contests  throughout  the  South.  The  Phoenix 
Club,  a  fashionable  Jewish  organization,  has  both 
a  handsome  City  Club  on  the  South  Highlands, 
and  a  Country  Club  on  Shades  Mountain. 

If  eating  may  be  classed  as  a  form  of  recreation, 
then  Birmingham  has  an  unlimited  number  of 
clubs  with  recreational  features,  in  addition  to 
those  above  referred  to.  Here  the  luncheon  club 
flourishes  with  an  abandon  equal  to  that  of  the 
palm  upon  a  tropical  isle.  Where  two  or  three 
kindred  spirits  are  gathered  together,  they  form 
themselves  into  a  luncheon  club,  and  life  becomes 
just  one  meal  after  another.  They  eat  in  hotels, 
in  clubs,  in  ball-rooms,  in  billiard  halls,  in  sample 
rooms,  and  wherever  else  the  spreading  of  a  table 
is  found  to  be  feasible. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  if  all  the  plates  set 
before  Birmingham  luncheon  clubs  within  a  month 
were  placed  edge  to  edge  they  would  form  a  line 

[  108  ] 


THE  PEOPLE  AT  PLAY 

extending  from  the  foot  of  Red  Mountain  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  provided  the  waiter  didn't  smash 
too  many  in  the  process  of  handling.  Efforts  of 
approximate  volume  of  oratory  flowing  before 
these  clubs  from  week  to  week  are  recognized  as 
futile.  The  usual  program  is  thirty  minutes  for 
eating  and  conversation  and  thirty  minutes  for 
business  and  oratory,  and  it  opens  a  fine  field  for 
the  budding  Demosthenese.  In  truth,  numerous 
speakers  have  fairly  eaten  their  way  to  fame  by 
cultivating  the  luncheon  club  habit. 

The  humorist,  too,  has  his  day  of  opportunity 
at  these  clubs,  and  once  a  reputation  for  wit  has 
been  established,  then  woe  to  the  guilty  person. 
He  has  opened  for  himself  an  avenue  that  develops 
into  a  veritable  treadmill.  He  is  expected  to  make 
the  people  laugh  on  every  occasion,  so  life  becomes 
just  one  joke  after  another,  without  a  single  ray 
of  hope.  The  humorist  arises  from  his  restless 
couch  at  the  call  of  the  new  day,  senses  the  sun- 
shine and  the  voice  of  the  birds,  and  is  just  about 
to  say  **  Wliat  a  glorious  thing  is  life,"  when  there 
rushes  upon  him  the  awful  truth  that  at  noon  on 
that  very  day  he  must  be  funny  —  must  stand 
before  long  rows  of  expectant  faces  and  crack 
these  faces  into  grins. 

Consider  the  case  of  Frank  Rushton,  past  presi- 
dent of  the  Rotary  Club,  and  a  quiet  and  unassum- 

[  109  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

ing  business  man,  who  was  called  to  leadership  in 
all  the  bond  selling  and  money  raising  drives 
throughout  the  war.  In  assuming  this  position 
he  inadvertently  dropped  a  few  funny  remarks  — 
and  was  lost.  Thenceforward,  with  shafts  of 
sharp  and  ready  wit,  he  was  expected  to  prick  the 
jaded  workers  into  newness  of  life  at  every  lunch- 
eon, and  long  before  the  conflict  ended  he  had 
learned  the  fullness  of  the  idea  General  Sherman 
sought  to  convey  in  defining  mortal  conflict.  So 
with  the  others  who  happened  to  strike  the  popu- 
lar funny  bone.  They  had  to  keep  it  up  or  join 
the  ranks  of  the  hermits.  The  luncheon  club  will 
have  its  laugh. 

The  popularity  of  these  clubs  is  founded  upon 
the  fact  that  they  afford  the  men  of  the  community 
an  opportunity  to  get  together  at  the  noon  hour  to 
discuss  matters  of  moment,  and  most  of  them  play 
a  highly  useful  part  in  the  life  of  the  city. 

It  was  through  the  agency  of  these  clubs  that 
prompt  and  glorious  results  were  obtained  during 
the  World  War  whenever  a  subscription  campaign 
of  any  kind  had  to  be  put  over.  During  that 
period  of  exacting  demands  Birmingham  went  be- 
yond its  quota  upon  every  bond  selling  campaign, 
and  in  every  instance  when  the  call  for  help  was 
sent  out  by  the  great  relief  agencies.  This  really 
remarkable  record  was  made  possible  by  reason 

[  no  ] 


THE  PEOPLE  AT  PLAY 

of  the  fact  that  Birmingham  men  had  formed  the 
habit  of  getting  together  at  noontime  and  dispos- 
ing of  their  problems  along  with  their  lunch. 

The  Eotarians,  the  Kiwanians,  and  the  Civitans 
all  have  strong  organizations,  and  their  influence 
is  attested  by  the  fact  that  the  international  presi- 
dents of  two  of  these  clubs  have  been  Birmingham 
men  —  Mercer  Barnett,  of  the  Kiwanians,  and  Dr. 
Courtney  W.  Shropshire,  of  the  Civitans.  The 
younger  men  of  the  city  are  banded  together  in 
the  Community  Club,  and  there  are  numerous 
others  representing  every  branch  of  society.  Even 
the  Red  Heads  have  their  organization,  and  while 
the  Bald  Heads  have  not  yet  gotten  together,  the 
chances  are  that  they  will  as  soon  as  the  town  is 
a  little  older  and  their  numbers  have  grown 
somewhat. 

In  addition  to  the  regularly  organized  luncheon 
clubs,  there  are  luncheon  clubs  within  clubs  that 
are  not  luncheon,  if  you  get  my  meaning,  and  so 
the  chefs  are  kept  busy  and  the  willing  speaker 
never  lacks  for  an  audience.  Vim,  vigor  and  vital- 
ity characterize  these  clubs,  and  when  they  get 
behind  anything  it  moves.  When  there  is  nothing 
important  to  get  behind,  then  there  is  frequent 
horse-play  and  some  remarkable  stunts  are  pulled, 
all  testifying  to  the  existence  of  a  spirit  of  exu- 

[  111  1 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

berance  that  is  a  manifest  product  of  youth, 
optimism  and  boundless  energy. 

A  live  and  efficient  organization  is  the  Birming- 
ham Automobile  Club,  which  maintains  headquar- 
ters in  the  Tut\\dler,  the  largest  hotel  in  the  city. 
This  club  is  highly  useful  to  tourists  in  steering 
them  along  the  right  road,  and  in  seeing  that  the 
road  is  in  good  condition.  Then  there  is  a  Bicycle 
Club.  Yes,  a  Bicycle  Club,  and  every  little  while 
the  members  get  together  and  are  off  on  a  long 
jaunt,  returning  weary  and  perspiring  but  happy 
in  the  knowledge  that  they  have  put  one  over  on 
the  gasoline  man.  On  a  recent  excursion  one 
member  appeared  riding  a  bicycle  of  the  vintage 
of  1875 ;  the  kind  with  the  huge  wheel  in  front  and 
the  little  wheel  behind,  and  which  seems  ever  on 
the  verge  of  turning  a  somersault. 

Horseback  riding  also  is  popular  with  a  goodly 
number  of  men  and  women,  especially  among  the 
younger  set,  'though  many  of  the  latter  show  a 
disposition  to  press  the  toe  upon  an  imaginary 
accelerator,  instead  of  applying  the  spur,  when 
they  wish  to  get  in  high. 

In  the  field  of  amateur  athletics  activities  are 
fairly  kaleidoscopic  during  the  summer  months. 
There  are  baseball  teams,  track  teams,  basket  ball 
teams,  tennis  teams,  etc.,  world  without  end,  the 
strenuous  life  appealing  to  a  large  part  of  the 

[  112  ] 


THE  PEOPLE  AT  PLAY 

citizenship.  In  the  face  of  these  conditions  the 
Ghess  and  Checker  Club  leads  a  retiring  and  al- 
most shamefaced  existence,  with  a  membership  of 
less  than  two  dozen. 


r  113  ] 


CHAPTER   IX 

GKAVE   AND    GAY   IN    POLITICS 

THOUGH  Birmingham  is  strongly  Demo- 
cratic in  county,  state  and  national  elec- 
tions, partisanship  plays  no  part  in 
municipal  contests.  With  the  substitution  of  the 
Commission  Plan  of  Government  for  the  Alder- 
manic  System  in  1910,  ward  lines  disappeared,  and 
party  lines  ceased  to  be  drawn.  Today  nomina- 
tions for  commissioner  are  by  petition,  and  party 
conventions,  party  primaries  and  party  caucuses 
are  made  unlawful.  The  names  of  all  nominees 
are  placed  on  the  same  ballot,  alphabetically  ar- 
ranged, and  emblems  of  every  kind  and  character 
are  eliminated. 

While  the  introduction  of  this  system  was  a 
bitter  pill  to  the  old-time  politician,  and  sporadic 
agitation  was  carried  on  for  a  time  with  a  view 

[  114  1 


GRAVE  AND  GAY  IN  POLITICS 

of  restoring  the  old  order,  the  general  satisfaction 
was  such  that  no  progress  was  made,  and  now  one 
rarely  hears  the  subject  mentioned.  The  old 
guard  died  hard  and  died  game  —  but  died ;  died 
beyond  the  hope  of  resurrection. 

It  is  an  odd  coincidence  that  one  of  the  greatest 
apostles  of  low  tariff  in  America  came  from 
Birmingham,  a  center  where  is  produced  vast 
quantities  of  the  things  for  which  the  high  tariff 
advocates  demand  protection.  Oscar  W.  Under- 
wood, author  of  the  Underwood  Tariff,  and  now 
Democratic  leader  in  the  Senate,  is  a  Birmingham 
man.  Not  only  so,  but  he  is  allied  with  one  of  the 
greatest  iron  producing  agencies  in  the  Alabama 
field.  Yet,  when  the  measure  that  bears  his  name 
was  being  framed,  and  tremendous  pressure  was 
brought  upon  him  to  **give  his  district  some  pro- 
tection," he  stood  by  his  guns,  and  put  through 
his  own  ideas  of  what  a  tariff  law  should  be.  The 
answer,  from  a  political  standpoint,  is  found  in  the 
fact  that,  whereas  he  was  in  the  House,  now  he  is 
in  the  Senate. 

Another  distinguished  national  leader  whose 
home  is  in  Birmingham  is  W.  P.  G.  Harding, 
Governor  of  the  Federal  Reserve  Board.  His 
fame  as  a  financier  was  won  as  the  head  of  the 
largest  bank  in  this  city.  He  was  succeeded  here 
by  Oscar  Wells,  who  is  now  engaged  in  helping 

[  115] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

the  Government  of  Cuba  straighten  out  its  finan- 
cial system. 

James  J.  Davis,  Secretary  of  Labor  in  the  Cab- 
inet of  President  Harding,  also  lived  in  Birming- 
ham at  one  time,  being  employed  in  what  is 
popularly  referred  to  as  *^the  old  rolling  mill." 
That  ancient  enterprise,  whose  prosperity  was  a 
sure  index  of  the  prosperity  of  the  city  some  thirty 
years  ago,  long  since  became  obsolete  and  joined 
the  things  that  were. 

While  Birmingham  taboos  partisan  politics  as 
it  relates  to  municipal  affairs,  this  city  is  the 
political  center  of  the  State,  and  here  many 
dramatic  events  of  national  interest  have  been 
staged. 

It  was  here  that  the  effort  to  build  up  a  strong 
Eepublican  Party  in  the  South  was  launched  under 
the  first  Roosevelt  administration.  That  abortive 
effort  was  known  as  the  ^^Lily  White''  movement, 
and  its  rise  and  fall  forms  an  interesting  but  little 
known  chapter  in  the  political  history  of  the  South 
and  the  Nation. 

Because  of  his  magnetic  qualities,  and  the  strong 
appeal  his  virile  personality  made  to  the  average 
Southerner,  it  was  believed  by  many  leading  Re- 
publicans of  the  South  that  a  really  strong  organ- 
ization could  be  built  up  in  this  section  under  the 
leadership  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  provided  the  negro 

[  116] 


GEAVE  AND  GAY  IN  POLITICS 

could  be  discarded.  With  this  end  in  view,  State 
leaders  decided  to  start  a  movement  looking  to  an 
all-white  party. 

Before  calling  the  convention  in  Birmingham  at 
which  the  new  movement  was  to  be  launched,  the 
leaders  felt  their  way  with  care,  and  it  is  certain 
that  they  believed  they  had  the  approval  of  Presi- 
dent Eoosevelt  before  they  took  decisive  action. 
Once  they  felt  that  the  administration  was  behind 
them,  they  proceeded  with  great  boldness  and 
made  a  thorough  job  of  reading  the  negro  out  of 
the  party  in  this  State.  **Not  a  black  face  pres- 
ent ' '  was  the  slogan  of  the  occasion,  and  the  spirit 
of  this  slogan  was  carried  out  to  the  letter. 

This  first  and  only  **Lily  Wliite''  convention 
was  held  in  the  armory  of  the  City  Hall,  and  not 
a  negro  was  admitted,  though  many  applied  as  in 
former  years  when  state  conventions  were  in  prog- 
ress, and  there  is  little  doubt  that  most  of  those 
applicants  were  accredited  delegates. 

The  ** key-note"  speaker  at  this  convention  was 
the  late  Senator  Pritchard,  of  North  Carolina, 
who  was  received  as  the  *^ spokesman"  of  Presi- 
dent Eoosevelt.  He  gave  his  unqualified  endorse- 
ment to  the  idea  of  building  up  a  strong  Eepublican 
party  in  the  South  by  creating  conditions  under 
which  the  Southern  white  man  would  feel  free  to 
unite  with  the  organization,  and  what  he  had  to 

[  117  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

say  was  listened  to  as  coming  from  the  President 
himself. 

The  men  who  dominated  the  convention  were 
Federal  officeholders,  and  that  they  would  have 
thrown  the  negro  overboard  without  being  sure 
that  they  had  executive  approval  is  unbelievable. 
Yet,  ^vithin  a  few  weeks,  every  act  of  that  conven- 
tion was  repudiated  at  Washington,  and  the  prime 
movers  in  it  were  removed  from  office.  And 
hereon  hangs  a  tale  that  is  not  mthout  its  element 
of  irony ! 

By  some  queer  freak  of  chance  it  happened  that 
a  large  gathering  of  negro  churchmen  was  in  ses- 
sion in  Birmingham  on  the  very  day  that  the  *^Lily 
White"  convention  was  held.  Present  were  col- 
ored Bishops  and  other  dignitaries  from  all  over 
the  country,  including  the  big,  important  and 
politically  doubtful  states  of  the  middle  West. 
AYhen  these  churchmen  read  in  the  afternoon 
papers  that  a  Republican  convention  had  that  day 
been  held  in  the  city  of  Birmingham,  right  under 
their  noses,  as  it  were,  and  that  not  a  negro  had 
been  admitted,  their  indignition  was  boundless. 
They  felt  that  Greenland's  Icy  Mountains  and  the 
islands  of  the  sea  could  wait  for  the  nonce,  while 
they  attended  to  some  missionary  work  at  home, 
and  straightway  they  trained  their  guns  on 
Washington. 

[  118] 


GRAVE  AND  GAY  IN  POLITICS 

Eeturning  to  their  respective  homes,  the  Bis- 
hops, ministers,  secretaries,  etc.,  carried  the  news 
of  what  had  happened  in  Alabama,  and  in  a  few 
days  delegations  of  dusky  individuals  were  march- 
ing upon  the  National  Capitol,  all  thirsting  for 
revenge.  Heavy  rumblings  came  from  doubtful 
states,  and  presently  the  axe  fell  in  Alabama. 
And  to  add  to  the  humiliation  of  the  gentlemen 
who  had  engineered  the  convention  and  thereby 
lost  their  jobs,  a  man  who  had  stood  alone  in 
defense  of  the  negroes  was  made  Collector  of 
Internal  Revenue  and  Referee  of  Federal  patron- 
age in  the  State. 

So  the  ^^Lily  White"  movement,  like  the  grass 
of  the  field,  blossomed  forth  in  the  morning,  and 
in  the  evening  was  cut  down.  And  thus  died  the 
movement  to  have  a  formidable  Republican  Party 
in  the  South. 

That  there  is  not  a  strong  Republican  organiza- 
tion in  Birmingham,  where  one  naturally  would 
expect  to  find  a  pronounced  protective  sentiment, 
on  account  of  the  huge  investments  in  industrial 
lines,  is  a  matter  of  frequent  comment  on  the  part 
of  national  leaders  of  the  Republican  persuasion, 
upon  their  visits  to  this  district.  Vice-President 
Fairbanks  was  present  on  an  occasion  when  this 
subject  came  up,  and  was  much  amused  at  a  story 

[  119  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

told  by  Bishop  Hoss,  a  distin§:uisliecl  figure  in  the 
Southern  Methodist  Church. 

The  occasion  was  a  dinner  at  the  Country  Club 
tendered  in  honor  of  the  Vice-President.  He  and 
Bishop  Hoss  had  been  friends  for  years,  which 
accounted  for  the  liberty  the  Bishop  took  in  telling 
the  story,  which  ran  something  like  this : 

In  a  small  Southern  city  where  nearly  every- 
body belonged  to  the  Methodist  Church  and  the 
Democratic  Party,  a  well  known  but  somewhat 
erratic  citizen  created  a  sensation  by  quitting  the 
Methodist  Church  and  going  over  to  the  Univer- 
salist.  There  was  a  lot  of  gossip  about  it,  but 
the  talk  finally  subsided,  and  pubhc  thought  was 
turning  to  other  matters,  when  the  same  man  threw 
the  community  into  another  furor  by  quitting  the 
Democratic  Party  and  going  over  to  the  Repub- 
licans. 

Wliile  the  gossip  created  by  this  incident  was  at 
its  height,  and  the  gentleman  in  question  was 
being  criticised  rather  severely  by  one  of  his 
fellow-townsmen,  a  local  philosopher  arose  to  re- 
mark: "Well,  I  don't  blame  him  for  this  latest 
change.  If  I  didn't  believe  there  was  a  hell  I'd 
be  a  Republican  too!" 

No  man  around  the  banquet  board  enjoyed  this 
story  more  than  Mr.  Fairbanks. 

The  Vice-President  was  in  Birmingham  at  that 
[  120  ] 


GEAVE  AND  GAY  IN  POLITICS 

time  to  deliver  an  address  before  a  distinguished 
gathering  of  Southern  Methodists,  and  earlier  in 
the  day  he  had  created  a  perfect  gale  of  laughter 
by  an  unconscious  slip  of  the  tongue. 

Tall,  dignified  and  immaculately  clad,  the  Vice- 
President  was  introduced  to  the  great  gathering, 
representing  the  cream  of  Methodism  in  the  South, 
and  the  laughter  was  occasioned  when  he  opened 
his  address  by  greeting  this  audience  as  *^  Fellow 
Republicans."  For  a  moment  he  did  not  realize 
what  the  laughter  was  about,  but  upon  recalling 
his  opening  sentence  he  joined  in  the  general 
merriment. 

Talk  to  a  Birmingham  man  about  amusing  inci- 
dents in  the  field  of  politics,  and  he  will  be  sure 
to  relate  this  story  about  former  Congressman 
Jesse  Stallings  and  Judge  William  Brandon.  The 
voice  of  the  latter  has  been  heard  in  more  than 
one  Democratic  National  Convention.  And  the 
term  ** heard"  is  used  advisedly,  for  he  has  a  voice 
that  may  not  always  carry  conviction  but  which 
always  carries  far.  A  number  of  years  ago  the 
two  were  stumping  the  State  for  rival  candidates 
for  some  position  of  preferment,  and  they  hap- 
pened to  meet  in  a  little  town  near  which  both 
were  to  speak  at  an  all-day  picnic.  Stallings  had 
obtained  a  buggy  and  was  preparing  to  leave  for 
the  scene  of  festivities  when  he  observed  the  pres- 

[  121  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

ence  of  Brandon  and  invited  Mm  to  go  along. 
Brandon  accepted  the  invitation,  and  while  they 
were  driving  along  Stallings,  a  great  wag,  hap- 
pened to  observe  that  Brandon  wore  a  pair  of 
striped  silk  hose. 

When  the  speechmaking  started  that  afternoon, 
Stallings  was  first  introduced,  and  he  began  by 
paying  the  customary  tribute  to  the  beauty  and 
charm  of  the  womanhood  of  that  particular  sec- 
tion and  to  the  intelligence,  patriotism  and  loyalty 
of  the  men.  Then  he  turned  his  guns  to  the  oppo- 
sition and  wound  up  by  pointing  to  Brandon  and 
saying,  *^and  now  they  send  this  city  dude  down 
here  to  tell  you  wool-hat  boys,  you  rock-ribbed 
Democrats,  how  to  vote.  I  want  you  to  look  at 
his  socks ;  silk  socks  they  are,  striped  like  a  stick 
of  candy.  Look  at  them!''  and  with  that  he 
stepped  over  and  pulled  up  one  of  the  legs  of 
Brandon's  trousers.  But  instead  of  the  silk  hose 
he  exposed  a  bare  ankle.  Brandon,  noting  the 
way  in  which  Stallings  had  eyed  those  hose,  had 
taken  time  by  the  forelock  and  stuffed  them  in  his 
shoes. 

Stallings  was  rendered  speechless  for  the  first 
time  in  his  life,  and  was  ready  to  quit  the  game  for 
the  day,  when  Brandon  arose  and  in  tremulous 
tones  began :  ^'My  fellow  Citizens :  I  think  things 
have  reached  a  pretty  pass  in  Alabama  when  a  poor 

[  122  ] 


GRAVE  AND  GAY  IN  POLITICS 

country  boy  can't  come  out  on  an  occasion  of  this 
kind  and  talk  to  liis  people  without  having  son^ 
city  fellow  make  fun  of  his  poverty. ' '  The  honors 
of  the  occasion  were  his. 

Brandon,  by  the  way,  tells  a  story  illustrative  of 
Alabama's  greatness  that  has  become  a  classic. 

According  to  this  story,  an  Alabama  farm  boy 
who  came  into  the  possession  of  some  money  de- 
cided to  tour  the  old  world  and  see  if  anywhere  on 
the  globe  there  was  a  spot  half  so  favored  as  his 
native  State,  but  while  he  traveled  far  and  observed 
much,  he  saw  nothing  to  compare  with  the  wonders 
at  home.  No  matter  what  he  was  shown,  he  always 
had  something  more  remarkable  to  refer  to  in 
*^01d  Alabama.''  After  seeing  and  discounting 
the  marble  quarries,  the  coal  deposits  and  other 
natural  resources  of  the  Old  World,  he  was  carried 
to  Birmingham,  England,  and  permitted  to  view 
that  great  industrial  city.  Gazing  upon  it,  he  said, 
*' There  ain't  none  of  you  fellows  ever  been  down 
to  Birmingham,  Alabama,  has  you  I"  When  they 
replied  **No,"  he  said,  *^Then  you  don't  know 
what  an  industrial  town  is.  Why,  there  in 
Birmingham  the  smoke  of  industry  is  so  thick  that 
you  can't  recognize  your  best  friend  on  the  street." 

Before  the  excursion  of  this  Alabama  booster 
was  over,  he  was  taken  one  night  to  the  catacombs, 
this  after  he  had  been  entertained  at  a  function 

[  123  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

where  flowed  that  w^hich  can't  flow  under  the 
Eighteenth  Amendment,  and  there  he  was  left 
among  the  dead  of  bygone  generations.  The  next 
morning,  as  faint  rays  began  to  creep  into  the 
gloomy  cells,  the  lad  awoke.  In  front  of  him  he 
saw  a  skeleton,  and  glancing  backward  he  saw 
another.  Looking  to  left  and  to  right  he  saw 
others.  Then  leaping  to  his  feet  and  yelling  in  a 
voice  that  made  those  dreary  chambers  ring,  he 
exclaimed:  ^'It's  the  resurrection  morn;  I'm  the 
first  man  up;  Old  Alabama  leads  again!" 

During  the  past  twenty-five  years  most  of  the 
political  revolutions  in  Alabama  have  had  their 
inception  in  Birmingham.  Here  originated  the 
fight  to  rid  the  State  of  railroad  dominance,  and 
here  that  memorable  campaign  was  directed.  It 
was  also  from  this  city  that  the  fight  to  rid  the 
State  of  the  saloon  was  carried  on,  and  it  was  here 
that  the  stage  was  set  for  introducing  the  present 
constitution,  under  which  the  State  was  freed  from 
the  menace  of  negro  dominance. 

Until  the  adoption  of  this  constitution  in  1901, 
Alabama  had  been  under  an  organic  law  framed  in 
the  days  of  *^ carpet-bag"  rule,  with  the  result  that 
the  ignorant  colored  voter  was  in  the  majority  in 
many  sections.  The  w^hite  man  refused  to  be  con- 
trolled by  this  situation,  and  it  is  an  open  secret 
that  the  ballot  of  the  black  man,  though  cast  for 

[124  ] 


GRAVE  AND  GAY  IN  POLITICS 

the  Republican  candidate,  usually  came  out  as  a 
vote  for  the  Democratic  nominee.  Purloining  of 
ballots  and  falsification  of  election  returns  were 
common  offenses.  The  purchase  of  votes  was  a 
familiar  occurrence,  and  it  was  not  unusual  for 
negroes  to  sell  out  to  both  sides.  For  instance,  I 
recall  a  heated  campaign  in  which  the  issue  was  so 
doubtful  that  every  vote  was  considered  highly 
important.  Residing  near  the  county  site  was  an 
aged  darky  w^ho  had  six  sons,  and  it  was  the  custom 
of  the  old  man  to  bring  his  family  to  town  on 
election  day  and  drive  the  best  bargain  he  could 
for  the  votes  he  controlled. 

On  the  day  in  question  the  thrifty  negro  found 
a  '^bulP'  market  and  decided  to  sell  when  he  was 
made  what  seemed  to  be  a  liberal  offer.  Upon 
selling  out  he  started  to  the  polls  with  his  flock, 
but  was  met  by  the  manager  of  the  other  candi- 
date, who  promptly  opened  negotiations. 

^  ^  Uncle,  how  much  do  you  want  for  your  votes  ? ' ' 
he  was  asked. 

^^I\s  sorry,  boss,"  the  darky  replied,  *'but  I's 
done  fixed  it  up  with  the  other  gen 'man.'' 

'*How  much  did  you  get?"  he  was  asked. 

'* Fifteen  dollars,"  was  the  reply,  and  tke  darky 
displayed  three  five  dollar  bills,  which  he  held  in 
his  hand. 

**I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do,"  said  the  crafty  man- 
[  125  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

ager,  ^'I'll  just  make  it  twenty  dollars  if  you'll 
vote  for  my  man." 

The  old  negro  hesitated  and  was  lost.  **Well, 
I  got  to  do  the  best  I  can  for  my  fam'ly,  an'  the 
votes  is  youn'.'' 

Thereupon  the  manager  slapped  a  five  dollar  bill 
upon  the  three  the  darky  held  in  his  hand,  **  mak- 
ing it  twenty, ' '  and  marched  the  old  man  and  his 
sons  up  to  the  ballot  box. 

Both  sides  knew  that  this  sort  of  thing  was 
going  on,  and  both  sides  *' deplored''  the  condi- 
tion, but,  they  asked,  *^AYhat  are  we  going  to  do 
about  it  so  long  as  w^e  have  an  electorate  like  this  ? " 

The  answer  came  in  1901  when  the  new  consti- 
tution was  adopted,  and  the  negro  disappeared  as 
a  factor  in  Alabama  politics.  This  constitution 
contains  the  famous  *' grand-father"  clause,  the 
** education  qualification,"  the  ** property  qualifi- 
cation," the  ^'optional  poll-tax,"  and  every  other 
feature  that  could  be  devised  for  putting  the  col- 
ored voter  on  the  retired  list,  without  disfranchis- 
ing the  white  man.  It  was  an  ingenious  document, 
and  effective  beyond  the  dreams  of  those  who 
framed  it. 

The  bfeck  vote  was  wiped  out  under  the  educa- 
tional clause,  and  was  kept  out  by  the  optional-tax 
clause.  The  former  made  it  possible  to  disfran- 
chise any  person  who  could  not  explain  any  clause 

[  126] 


GRAVE  AND  GAY  IN  POLITICS 

of  the  United  States  Constitution  about  which  he 
might  be  questioned,  and  the  latter  put  it  up  to 
the  individual  to  pay  his  poll  tax  voluntarily  or 
lose  his  vote.  Moreover,  this  poll  tax  had  to  be 
paid  far  in  advance  of  the  time  of  election,  and 
it  was  not  possible  to  qualify  during  the  heat  of 
a  campaign  by  paying  back  taxes. 

The  effect  of  this  not  only  was  to  disfranchise 
about  ninety-five  per  cent  of  the  negroes,  but  to 
disfranchise  tens  of  thousands  of  whites.  Illiter- 
ate whites  could  side-step  the  ^^educational  quali- 
fication'' under  the  provision  of  the  *^  grand- 
father" clause,  which  conferred  the  ballot  upon 
the  sons  and  grandsons  of  soldiers  who  had  fought 
in  any  war  in  which  the  United  States  had  been 
involved,  but  he,  too,  was  negligent  in  the  matter 
of  poll  tax,  and  this  proved  his  undoing.  Today 
the  total  vote  in  Alabama  never  equals  ten  per 
cent  of  the  population. 

But  this  constitution,  imperfect  as  it  is,  brought 
about  a  far-reaching  reform,  and  elections  now 
are  as  clean  as  the  average,  with  many  safeguards 
thrown  about  the  ballot  that  were  unknown  in  the 
old  days.  Moreover,  there  has  developed  a  public 
sentiment  that  will  not  tolerate  practices  once 
justified  under  the  stress  of  apparent  necessity. 

The  new  constitution  was  not  framed  in  har- 
mony, as  Frank  S.  White,  ex-United  States  Sen^ 

[  127  1 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

ator  from  Alabama,  and  a  number  of  other  able 
leaders,  opposed  the  *^ grand-father"  clause,  which 
afterwards  was  the  occasion  of  much  ridicule,  but 
the  convention  was  dominated  by  the  purpose  to 
get  rid  of  the  negro,  a  purpose  with  which  they 
sympathized,  and  nothing  was  left  undone  that 
promised  to  contribute  to  this  end,  however  great 
the  cost. 

Because  of  the  dominence  of  this  idea,  many  im- 
portant matters  were  neglected,  and  the  result  is 
that  there  is  a  growing  demand  for  revision.  This 
demand  has  been  intensified  during  the  past  few 
months  by  the  fact  that  a  half  dozen  important 
amendments  have  been  declared  invalid,  and  it  is 
probable  that  the  next  legislature,  which  convenes 
m  1923,  will  authorize  a  call  for  a  convention 
charged  with  the  duty  of  framing  a  new  constitu- 
tion. 

Owing  to  the  ** one-idea"  in  the  last  convention, 
and  the  fear  that  too  many  changes  might  defeat 
the  whole  proposition,  a  large  part  of  the  former 
constitution  was  brought  forward  in  the  new,  and 
this  is  proving  a  tremendous  handicap  to  the  State. 
The  old  constitution  framed  in  1876,  also  was 
put  together  in  a  one-idea  atmosphere.  Then  the 
dominating  thought  was  to  keep  the  **  carpet- 
bagger," who  controlled  the  political  situation  in 
many  communities,  from  getting  his  hands  on  any 

[  128  ] 


GRAVE  AND  GAY  IN  POLITICS 

more  of  the  public  money  than  was  necessary.  The 
most  stringent  restrictions  were  imposed  in  mat- 
ters of  taxation,  and  these  restrictions,  brought 
over  in  1901  by  a  convention  that  was  chiefly  con- 
cerned about  the  negro  vote,  have  hindered  prog- 
ress. Educational  advancement,  harbor  improve- 
ment, highway  building,  river  development,  and 
many  more  activities  have  been  more  or  less 
throttled,  though  two  amendments  have  been  put 
through  that  proved  of  tremendous  advantage  in 
the  promotion  of  the  public  schools. 

All  these  matters  will  clamor  for  attention  when 
the  next  convention  assembles,  and  there  is  ground 
for  hope  that  within  the  next  few  years  a  new 
constitution  will  be  provided  under  which  existhig 
restrictions  will  disappear  and  Alabama  will  be 
enabled  to  exercise  a  large  degree  of  freedom  in 
the  development  of  her  rich  and  varied  resources. 


[  129  ] 


CHAPTEE  X 

TURNIIS^G   OEE   INTO   SHIPS 

MOST  of  the  scars  left  by  the  War  between 
the  States  have  vanished,  but  not  all. 
For  instance,  one  may  see  a  deep  crev-^ 
asse  running  for  miles  along  the  crest  of  Red 
Mountain,  that  was  dug  during  that  unhappy 
struggle,  and  which  continues  to  be  a  source  of 
trouble  and  expense. 

This  rent  was  made  in  removing  the  **  out- 
cropping'* of  ore  when  the  Conferedate  Govern- 
ment was  clamoring  for  iron  with  which  to  make 
cannon  and  other  implements  of  warfare,  and  the 
operators,  if  they  realized  the  damage  they  were 
doing,  were  too  much  occupied  in  meeting  prob- 
lems to  worry  about  the  future. 

A  fairly  accurate  conception  of  the  structure  of 
[  130  1 


TURNING  OEE  INTO  SHIPS 

Red  Mountain  may  be  gained  by  taking  the  two 
bands  and  bringing  tbe  ends  of  tbe  fingers  togetber 
in  a  straigbt  line.  Imagine  tbe  fingers,  wbicb  are 
beld  level,  to  be  a  far-reacbing  bed  of  iron  ore. 
Now,  instead  of  bolding  tbe  fingers  straigbt,  let 
tbem  move  upward,  points  togetber,  until  tbey 
form  a  peak  like  tbe  roof  of  a  bouse.  Wben  tbe 
reader  bas  done  tbis,  be  bas  seen  in  miniature 
wbat  bappened  to  tbe  ore  bed  bere  many  centuries 
ago.  From  a  level  plane,  it  was  sbot  up  to  a  peak, 
tbe  peak  becoming  Red  Mountain. 

Now  it  obviously  was  a  very  simple  matter  for 
tbe  men  of  1861-65  to  mine  ore.  All  tbey  bad  to 
do  was  to  gatber  tbe  outcropings  at  tbe  top  of 
tbe  mountain,  and  tbat's  wbat  tbey  did.  Follow- 
ing tbe  crest  of  tbe  mountain,  tbey  went  mile 
after  mile,  digging  down  fifteen,  twenty  or  tbirty 
feet,  as  tbe  fancy  struck  tbem,  and  bauling  off 
sucb  ore  as  tbey  wanted.  Tbis  process  involved 
no  expensive  sbafts,  no  lifting  macbinery  and  no 
danger.  Picks,  sbovels,  and  some  blasting  powder, 
and  a  few  mules  and  carts,  constituted  tbe  equip- 
ment necessary  to  gatber  tbis  surface  ore. 

Tbis  system  was  very  fine  for  tbe  iron-makers 
of  tbat  period,  but  it  laid  up  endless  trouble  for 
tbose  wbo  came  later.  Tbat  great  trencb,  left 
wben  tbe  old-timers  tore  tbe  roof  off  tbe  moun- 
tain, formed  a  natural  catcb-basin  for  all  tbe  rain 

[  131  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

the  heavens  were  disposed  to  send  down,  and  this 
water,  having  no  natural  outlet,  takes  a  running 
start  for  every  mine  that  is  opened,  and  leaps 
therein,  unless  extraordinary  precautions  are 
adopted. 

Nor  was  the  creation  of  a  serious  water  prob- 
lem the  only  flare-back  from  this  crude  system  of 
mining.  The  removal  of  the  natural  roof  of  the 
mountain  created  a  weakness  that  is  made 
manifest  at  every  mine  opening.  Above  these 
openings,  one  can  see  where  the  mountain  has 
*^ cracked,"  and  made  ready  to  slide  into  the  slope, 
and  it  has  required  vast  quantities  of  cement  and 
numberless  timbers,  to  prevent  this  unhappy  cul- 
mination. 

Had  the  top  of  this  mountain  been  left  intact, 
it  would  have  shed  the  water,  and  would  have 
stood  up  reasonably  well  under  the  strain  of  min- 
ing activities.  But,  as  indicated  in  the  foregoing, 
the  men  who  peeled  off  that  top  ore  and  left  this 
legacy  of  trouble  had  neither  the  time  nor  the 
money  to  sink  shafts.  They  were  bending  every 
energy  to  the  task  of  ** licking  the  Yankees,"  and 
the  troubles  of  future  mining  engineers  bothered 
them  no  whit. 

The  explorations  made  into  Red  Mountain  since 
modern  mining  operations  began,  sustain  fully  the 
theory  of  early  geologists  that  the  Birmingham 

[  132  ] 


TURNING  ORE  INTO   SHIPS 

ores  once  were  a  mile  or  more  below  the  surface 
of  the  earth,  for  there  are  a  number  of  shafts 
now  in  operation  that  have  a  depth  in  excess  of 
a  mile,  and  the  end  is  not  yet.  Somewhere  down 
there,  some  day,  the  seams  of  ore,  which  now  rise 
like  the  slate  on  the  roof  of  a  house,  will  straighten 
out,  and  then  these  bold  explorers  of  the  under- 
world will  know  how  deep  the  top  of  Red  Mountain 
used  to  be  buried  when  the  earth  was  young  and 
men  had  not  learned  the  value  of  poking  experi- 
mental fingers  into  its  interior. 

Ore  mines  are  numerous  along  Red  Mountain, 
particularly  in  the  vicinity  of  Birmingham  and 
Bessemer.  Muscoda  furnishes  a  typical  illustra- 
tion of  the  methods  used  in  the  recovery  of  the 
material;  methods  that  differ  materially  from 
those  adopted  in  fields  where  the  ore  is  deposited 
in  ^* beds''  from  which  it  may  be  gathered  by 
means  of  steam  shovels.  Here  the  ore  veins  are 
followed  deep  into  the  earth,  which  necessitates  a 
main  shaft  for  bringing  the  ore  to  the  surface. 
From  this  shaft  laterals  are  run,  as  in  coal  min- 
ing. The  difference  is  that  in  ore  mining,  the 
men  work  *^ backward"  instead  of  '^forward,"  as 
in  mines  where  the  vein  follows  a  level  course. 

This  variation  in  the  method  of  working  is  due 
to  the  '^tilt"  of  the  ore,  and  to  the  disposition 
of  the  operator  to  take  advantage  of  every  short 

[  133  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

cut.  By  going  forward  and  working  backward,  he 
is  enabled  to  get  the  benefit  of  a  free  haul,  since 
the  ore,  when  it  is  cut,  rolls  of  its  own  momentum 
down  to  the  lateral,  and  is  ready  to  be  hauled 
to  the  main  shaft.  Were  it  worked  the  other  way 
about,  it  would  have  to  be  lifted  to  the  lateral, 
instead  of  tumbling  down  of  its  own  weight. 

The  use  of  the  word  ^'vein''  in  referring  to  de- 
posits of  coal  and  ore,  has  created  the  impression 
in  the  minds  of  some  people  outside  the  mining 
districts  of  the  country,  that  these  minerals  are 
strung  out  like  the  veins  in  the  human  body.  This 
impression  is  wholly  erroneous,  these  deposits 
being  in  the  form  of  ^* layers,'*  and  often  cover- 
ing wide  areas.  The  method  of  recovering  the 
mineral  is  to  sink  a  shaft  into  the  layer,  wide 
enough  and  high  enough  to  carry  the  cars  in 
which  the  material  is  taken  to  the  surface.  From 
this  main  shaft,  lateral  openings  are  run  at  right 
angles  through  the  coal  or  ore  deposit,  and  the 
mine  is  worked  from  these  laterals.  In  some  in- 
stances, as  in  many  coal  mines,  a  sufficient  amount 
of  the  mineral  is  left  to  support  the  roof,  while 
in  others  all  the  coal  is  taken  and  the  roof  is 
supported  by  timbers.  Then  there  are  cases  in 
which,  after  a  mine  has  been  worked,  pillars  of 
coal  having  been  left  as  supports,  the  pillars  are 
taken  out  and  the  roof  is  allowed  to  cave  in. 

[  134  ] 


TURNING  ORE  INTO  SHIPS 

"Water,  as  may  be  inferred  by  any  one  wlio  has 
seen  a  well  dug  and  observed  the  ease  with  which 
water  is  *^ struck'*  under  ordinary  conditions,  is 
one  of  the  commonest  problems  confronting  the 
mining  engineer.  For  every  ton  of  coal  mined, 
it  is  necessary  to  pump  from  two  to  a  dozen  or 
more  tons  of  water,  depending  upon  the  nature 
of  the  surroundings.  Thus  the  removal  of  water 
becomes  an  important  factor  in  the  production  of 
coal  as  well  as  of  ore. 

At  Muscoda  mine,  the  opening  is  made  squarely 
into  the  side  of  the  great  trench  left  by  the  war- 
time operators  as  they  dug  away  the  outcrop- 
pings.  There  is  a  double  shaft,  protected  by 
heavy  arches  of  concrete  that  extend  deep  into 
the  earth.  Extending  upward  from  this  concrete 
work,  two  cracks  in  the  mountain  show  where  it 
made  a  futile  attempt  to  drop  down  and  block  the 
entry.  That  concrete  literally  is  holding  the  moun- 
tain up. 

Two  tracks  drop  into  this  slope,  which  is  more 
than  a  mile  deep.  These  tracks  carry  large  trip 
cars,  one  of  which  goes  down  as  the  other  comes 
up.  One  car  balances  the  other,  the  result  being 
that  the  weight  of  the  ore  is  all  the  engines  have 
to  lift. 

When  the  ore  reaches  the  tipple  above  the  open- 
ing of  the  shaft,  it  is  dumped  automatically  into 

[  135  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

the  crusher.  From  the  crusher,  it  falls  by  gravity 
into  the  railroad  cars,  and  is  transported  to  the 
furnace. 

As  illustrating  how  blithesomely  these  mining 
men  go  about  their  tasks  of  mastering  difficulties, 
it  may  be  related  that  when  it  was  decided  to 
widen  this  slope  sufficiently  to  care  for  two  tracks 
instead  of  one,  the  man  in  charge  of  the  under- 
taking carried  the  work  forward  a  total  distance 
of  380  feet  in  sixty  days,  meanwhile  holding  the 
mountain  up  with  temporary  timbers.  By  this 
feat  he  won  a  suit  of  clothes,  not  to  mention  such 
glory  as  comes  with  the  achievement  of  large 
things. 

Incidentally,  there  is  nothing  about  these  in- 
dustrial enterprises  more  inspiring  than  the  en- 
thusiasm with  which  the  dominating  spirits  jump 
to  the  performance  of  extraordinary  tasks  in  the 
face  of  seemingly  insurmountable  difficulties. 
Some  time  ago  fire  destroyed  the  huge  switch- 
board from  which  the  operations  of  the  great  steel 
plant  at  Ensley  were  directed.  The  chaos  in  that 
electric  room  was  frightful  to  behold,  and  it 
looked  like  a  shut-down  of  from  thirty  to  sixty 
days,  as  a  new  switchboard  would  have  to  be 
ordered  from  a  distance,  and  no  one  could  tell 
when  delivery  would  be  made.  In  this  emergency, 
the  presiding  genius  of  the  huge  establishment 

[  136  ] 


^i 

•^ 


<i._ 


=$S=r 


'3 


1 


^ 


TURNING  ORE  INTO  SHIPS 

got  his  electricians  together  and  had  a  wooden 
switchboard  in  commission  in  about  thirty-six 
hours,  whereupon  the  wheels  began  turning  as 
usual.  ^'It  can  be  done/^  is  a  motto  posted  in 
practically  all  these  establishments,  and  the  spirit 
of  that  bold  challenge  permeates  the  district. 

The  furnaces  and  mills  at  Ensley  may  be  seen 
from  the  ore  mines  along  Red  Mountain,  and  that 
is  the  destination  of  the  ore  when  it  tumbles  into 
the  cars  from  the  crusher.  Reaching  the  furnaces, 
this  ore  meets  the  coal  that  comes  down  from  the 
mines  at  Bayview,  Edgewater  and  other  points, 
now  appearing  in  the  form  of  coke,  and  the  two 
go  into  the  furnace  together. 

When  the  ore  is  converted  into  *^pig^'  by  the 
heat  of  the  burning  coke,  ore  and  coal  meet  again, 
this  time  in  the  steel  mill,  where  the  ore  has  be- 
come iron  and  the  coal  has  become  gas.  Here 
the  iron  is  transformed  into  steel,  in  which  form 
it  moves  on  to  be  converted  into  various  products 
in  the  mills  that  reach  out  for  miles  beyond  the 
steel  plant.  And  all  the  way  the  transformed  coal 
follows  the  transformed  ore,  in  one  form  or  an- 
other. 

The  far-reaching  plant  of  the  American  Steel  & 
Wire  Company  is  one  of  the  first  in  the  chain  of 
giant  industries  lying  beyond  the  Ensley  Steel 
Mill,  while  farther  along  are  the  great  buildings 

[137] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

constituting  the  plant  of  the  Fairfield  Steel  Com- 
pany. Here  the  ore  from  Red  Mountain  appears 
in  the  form  of  the  steel  ^4ngots/'  some  of  them 
as  much  as  48  inches  wide  and  weighing  22,000 
pounds. 

These  ^^ ingots''  pass  first  into  the  furnace  room, 
where  the  high  temperature  generated  by  the  gas 
that  used  to  be  coal,  brings  them  to  a  white  heat. 
In  this  form,  they  are  carried  by  giant  electric 
cranes  to  the  blooming  mill,  where  they  pass  be- 
tween great  rolls  and  gradually  are  reduced  to 
such  form  as  is  required  to  meet  pending  orders. 

It  is  here  that  the  steel  plates  are  rolled  for 
the  building  of  the  ships  that  are  fabricated  in 
the  nearby  plant  of  the  Chickasaw  Shipbuilding  & 
Car  Company,  and  for  the  steel  cars  manufactured 
in  the  same  establishment. 

This  mill  produces  rails,  bars  and  structural 
material,  and  is  as  spectacular  in  its  operations 
as  any  enterprise  in  the  district.  The  rolls  pro- 
duce sheets  of  steel  as  much  as  110  inches  wide, 
and  to  see  them  kneading  one  of  those  great,  hot 
ingots  into  long  strips  of  metallic  ** dough,''  ready 
to  be  cut  into  ** wafers"  for  boiler  heads,  or  at- 
tenuated ^'lady  fingers"  for  ship  sides,  is  an  awe- 
inspiring  spectacle. 

The  machinery  is  all  electrically  driven,  the  rolls 
being  connected  directly  upon  the  shafts  of  motors. 

[  138  ] 


TURNING  ORE  INTO   SHIPS 

The  largest  of  these  motors  develops  five  thous- 
and four  hundred  horse  power,  its  function  being 
to  reduce  the  great  mass  of  steel  as  it  comes  from 
the  mill.  Smaller  motors,  of  three  thousand, 
twenty-five  hundred  and  one  thousand  horse 
power,  oare  for  the  subsequent  operations. 

All  parts  of  this  wide-spread  plant  are  reached 
by  underground  passages  of  concrete,  large 
enough  to  operate  a  mine  train  through,  and  all 
of  the  electric  cables  traverse  these  tunnels.  Tiled, 
lined,  and  spotless,  and  with  electrical  machinery 
shining  like  mirrors,  the  power  plants  are  veri- 
table beauty  spots. 

Beyond  the  blooming  mill  is  the  plate  fabricat- 
ing shop,  and  adjoining  that  is  the  tie  plate  plant, 
where  automatic  machinery  works  with  red  hot 
metal  as  though  it  knew  all  about  the  job  in  hand. 
The  strips  of  metal  are  fed  into  its  maw  direct 
from  the  furnace,  and  it  chews  away  as  long  as 
the  feeding  process  continues,  spilling  the  finished 
product  in  a  convenient  hopper. 

Beyond  the  plant  of  the  Fairfield  Steel  Com- 
pany is  that  of  the  Chickasaw  Shipbuilding  &  Car 
Company,  consisting  of  a  series  of  huge  steel 
structures,  fabricated  in  the  plant  of  the  Fairfield 
Company.  Here  is  witnessed  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  transformations  wrought  in  the  Birm- 
ingham district,  for  it  is  at  this  plant  that  ocean 

[  139  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

steamsliips  are  turned  out,  ready  to  be  put  to- 
gether and  launched  at  Mobile. 

This  development  is  interesting,  not  only  be- 
cause of  the  magnitude  of  the  operation,  but  be- 
cause of  its  significance,  since  it  is  here  that  the 
circle  of  Birmingham's  industrial  accomplish- 
ment is  made  complete.  The  ore,  starting  from 
Red  Mountain,  passes  through  furnaces  and  mills 
and  fabricating  plants,  emerging  finally  as  an 
ocean-going  craft,  prepared  to  convey  the  products 
of  Birmingham  anywhere  upon  the  seven  seas. 

Operations  here  are  upon  a  colossal  scale. 
Huge  shafts  of  steel,  destined  for  ship  propellers, 
turn  in  giant  lathes,  mighty  hammers  pound  upon 
forgings  that  weigh  many  tons,  great  sheets  of 
plate  steel  pass  beneath  restless  punching  ma- 
chines, while  overhead  electric  cranes  move  back 
and  forth,  conveying  materials  whose  weight  runs 
into  tens  of  thousands  of  pounds. 

When  the  ship  has  been  completed,  ready  to 
be  put  together  with  the  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  steel  rivets  which  go  with  the  parts,  the 
whole  is  sent  to  Birminghamport,  where  self- 
propelled  steel  barges  carry  it  to  the  ship  yard 
at  Mobile.  Every  part  is  punched  and  marked, 
showing  exactly  where  it  goes,  and  it  remains  only 
for  these  parts  to  be  riveted  together.  Steel  cars 
form  another  important  item  in  the  product  of  this 

[  140  ] 


TURNING  ORE  INTO   SHIPS 

plant,  the  capacity  being  one  completed  oar  every 
forty-eight  minutes. 

The  building  in  which  the  cars  are  put  together 
is  ninety  feet  wide  and  one  thousand  and  eighty 
feet  long.  The  materials  for  building  the  cars 
are  piled  at  stations  all  along  the  length  of  this 
shop,  and  at  each  station  certain  operations  are 
performed.  Men  and  materials  are  so  arranged 
that  each  operation,  in  the  building  of  the  car,  con- 
sumes forty-eight  minutes.  When  the  trucks  roll 
in  at  the  far  end  of  the  shop,  the  first  crew  adds 
certain  elementary  features,  and  the  oar  moves  on ; 
the  second  crew  adds  other  parts,  and  so  the  car 
progresses  until  it  emerges  at  the  far  end,  with 
every  steel  part  riveted  in  place.  Under  this 
schedule  a  car  is  produced  every  forty-eight 
minutes. 

While  most  of  the  machinery  in  these  buildings 
is  of  colossal  proportions,  designed  to  handle 
enormously  heavy  materials,  there  are  many 
smaller  machines,  busily  engaged  in  turning  out 
nuts,  bolts  and  products  of  like  character. 

About  these  shops  is  the  same  evidence  of  ap- 
preciation of  the  beautiful  that  is  found  in  the 
mining  camps  to  which  reference  has  been  made. 
As  one  enters  the  great  enclosure  containing  the 
buildings,  he  beholds  a  wide  semi-circle  of  green, 
which  was  aglow  with  blooming  flowers  the  day  of 

[  141] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIKMINGHAM 

my  visit.  About  the  office  buildings,  and  wherever 
the  space  seems  to  be  available,  similar  flower 
beds  are  placed.  Here,  too,  ice  water,  from  sani- 
tary drinking  fountains,  is  abundant,  and  the 
shops  are  provided  with  ample  facilities  for  the 
personal  comfort  of  the  men.  Narrow  strips  of 
steel  and  great  stretches  of  glass,  form  the  archi- 
tectural scheme  of  the  buildings,  and  light  and 
air  have  free  access. 

The  opportunity  to  lend  ornamentation  to  these 
vast  structures  of  steel  is  very  limited,  but  not  so 
with  the  power  plants,  and  here  elegance  is  the 
dominant  note.  Indeed,  when  one  considers  how 
rare  it  is  that  outsiders  see  the  inside  of  one  of 
these  establishments,  it  is  to  marvel  that  so  much 
should  be  spent  in  making  them  places  of  beauty. 
In  these  plants,  as  in  many  others,  the  decorative 
scheme  in  the  power  houses  is  a  border  of  white 
tile,  extending  to  a  height  of  about  six  feet,  while 
above  this,  polished  brick,  of  a  rich  sand  color, 
extends  to  the  ceiling.  Red  tile  floors  furnish  a 
striking  contrast  to  the  deep  green  of  the  huge 
electric  machines,  and  the  effect  is  dignified  and 
pleasing. 

Fairfield,  an  industrial  community  noted  for  its 
beauty,  is  the  home  of  most  of  the  white  employees 
of  these  plants,  while  Westfield,  a  model  negro 
community,  is  the  home  of  the  colored  employees. 

[  142  ] 


TURNING  ORE  INTO   SHIPS 

Here  are  found  neat  homes,  splendid  streets,  a 
modern  school,  an  athletic  field,  and  many  other 
features  that  go  to  make  an  attractive  community. 

In  consideration  the  completeness  of  residence 
sections  like  Westfield,  I  am  reminded  of  the  story 
of  the  negro  evangelist  who  put  new  life  into  a 
rather  indifferent  congregation.  This  evangelist, 
as  the  story  goes,  was  a  powerful  ^*  'zorter,''  and 
he  hadn^t  been  preaching  long  until  the  congrega- 
tion was  willing  to  do  anything  he  suggested.  As 
a  result,  the  church  was  painted  and  a  new  roof 
was  put  on.  Then  a  new  carpet  was  added,  and 
some  stained  glass  windows  were  put  in.  Follow- 
ing this,  the  congregation,  swayed  by  the  eloquence 
of  the  evangelist,  bought  a  pipe  organ  and  added 
new  pews  to  the  church  equipment,  thus  giving 
what  seemed  to  be  the  final  touch  to  the  edifice. 
But  the  end  was  not  yet,  for  presently,  under  the 
inspiring  call  of  the  preacher  for  sacrificial  serv- 
ice, one  good  brother  arose  and  said  *^ Brethren, 
now  that  we've  done  had  our  church  painted  an* 
got  new  windows  an'  a  carpet,  an'  has  installed  a 
musical  organ  of  de  fustest  class,  I  now  moves  dat 
we  completes  de  job  by  buyin'  a  nice  chandeliar." 

Thereupon  an  aged  brother,  seated  in  the  **amen 
corner,"  arose  and  remarked:  ^* Sisters  an'  bred- 
eren:  I's  voted  for  de  paint  an'  do  carpet,  an' 
for  de  benches  an'  de  organ,  but  I'm  here  to  tell 

[  143  ] 


THE  BOOK  OP  BIRMINGHAM 

you  now  I'm  not  gwin'  to  have  nothin'  to  do  with 
no  sech  plan  as  am  now  perposed.  I'm  again' 
buyin'  no  chandeliar,  for  if  we  had  one  there 
wouldn't  be  a  nigger  in  dis  house  would  know  how 
to  play  it!" 

That's  the  way  with  Westfield,  and  similar  com- 
munities. If  any  features  were  added  to  these 
communities,  it  is  probable  that  the  folks  wouldn't 
know  what  to  do  with  them,  because  things  are 
complete  as  they  stand. 


[144] 


%    fe^ 


CHAPTER  XI 


CONSEKVING  THE   HUMAN  ELEMENT 

STANDING  upon  an  eminence,  and  almost 
surrounded  by  a  huge  artificial  lake  that 
forms  a  sweeping  crescent,  is  Bay  view,  the 
most  modern  of  all  the  mining  villages  in  the 
Birmingham  district. 

Viewing  this  village,  with  its  wide  stretches  of 
grass,  its  riot  of  blooming  flowers,  its  winding 
thoroughfares,  its  playgrounds,  and  its  scores  of 
artistic  homes,  my  thoughts  ran  back  to  other 
scenes  that  left  their  impress  some  twenty-five 
or  thirty  years  ago.  I  could  see  a  mining  camp 
stuck  in  a  narrow  valley,  the  hillsides  dotted  with 
rough-board  shacks,  whose  spindly  legs  seemed 
ever  on  the  eve  of  giving  way.  Rough  trails  led 
from  shack  to  shack,  and  fell  toward  the  **town," 

[145] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

whose  single  street  was  filled  with  either  dust  or 
mud,  according  to  the  eccentricities  of  the  weather. 
No  flowers,  no  parks,  no  playgrounds,  no  public 
baths;  nothing  save  ugliness  and  the  evidence  of 
grinding  toil.  That  was  the  beginning,  production 
of  coal  being  the  only  thought.  Today,  at  Bay- 
view,  and  many  other  villages,  one  sees  the  prac- 
tical working  of  a  new  idea ;  the  idea  that  a  mining 
camp  ought  to  be  a  home  as  well  as  a  hive  of  in- 
dustry. 

Another  picture,  connected  with  that  early  camp, 
comes  back  upon  the  screen  of  memory,  and  it, 
too,  is  suggestive  of  the  mighty  change  that  has 
been  wrought  in  the  social  order. 

In  those  days  the  women  and  the  children  of 
the  camp  had  no  recreation,  and  that  toward  which 
some  of  the  men  turned,  called  for  cork-screws  or 
bung-starters  rather  than  for  tennis  rackets  or 
baseball  bats.  I  recall  two  brothers,  stocky,  power- 
ful fellows,  who  used  to  go  to  town  as  regularly  as 
they  were  paid  off,  and  who  always  returned  with 
a  gallon  jug  of  liquor,  each  being  so  armed  against 
the  possibility  of  drouth  between  pay  days.  On 
one  occasion,  as  they  stepped  from  the  train  and 
started  down  the  track,  they  staggered  toward 
one  another,  and  as  they  did,  the  jugs  crashed 
together,  with  the  result  that  all  the  liquor  was 
lost.    Each  accused  the  other  of  carelessness,  and 

[  146  ] 


CONSERVING  THE   HUMAN  ELEMENT 

the  upshot  of  the  altercation  was  a  fight  that  fur- 
nished vast  amusement  to  the  spectators. 

Scenes  like  this  were  familiar,  as  was  the  sight 
of  a  mountain  of  beer  kegs  piled  up  about  the 
station,  *^ empties'*  going  back  to  take  the  place  of 
the  full  kegs  coming  in. 

Scenes  more  sordid  than  these,  or  more  detri- 
mental to  the  development  of  a  home  life  char- 
acterized by  social  and  intellectual  progress,  one 
scarcely  could  imagine,  and  there  is  nothing  in  the 
development  of  the  Birmingham  district  that  is 
more  inspiring,  or  better  calculated  to  imbue  the 
human  race  with  hope,  than  the  transformations 
being  wrought  in  mining  communities. 

Advantages  such  as  are  offered  in  the  Bayview 
t3rpe  of  village  are  equalled  in  few  small  com- 
munities, and  not  many  resorts  of  the  wealthy 
have  a  more  delightful  setting. 

The  central  feature  of  this  village  is  a  beautiful 
office  building,  looking  not  unlike  a  well-designed 
public  library.  There  are  three  entrances,  one 
being  marked  by  a  neat  pergola,  and  all  being 
flanked  by  flowers  and  shrubs.  Stretching  off 
from  the  right  wing,  three  flower  beds,  radiant 
with  color  on  the  July  day  upon  which  I  visited 
the  place,  point  the  way  to  the  huge  black  tipple 
that  looms  above  the  mouth  of  the  mine.  This 
tipple,  by  the  way,  is  the  only  ^'manless''  device  of 

[  147  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

its  kind  in  Alabama.  The  coal,  coming  up  from 
the  slope,  is  dumped  automatically,  six  tons  at  a 
load,  and  is  conveyed  through  crushers,  washers 
and  to  cars  by  mechanical  means. 

On  one  side  of  the  village  is  the  white  settle- 
ment, while  on  the  other  side  is  the  negro  quarter. 
The  central  feature  of  both  sections  is  a  beautiful 
school  house,  each  a  duplicate  of  the  other.  These 
buildings,  in  addition  to  the  usual  class  of  rooms, 
have  large  halls  for  concerts,  dances,  dramatic 
performances,  religious  services  and  public  meet- 
ings, and  also  are  provided  with  small  libraries 
for  general  use. 

These  residential  communities  are  circled  by 
well  paved  streets,  which  follow  the  contour  of 
the  hills,  the  streets  being  flanked  by  homes  that 
are  wonderfully  neat  and  attractive.  Most  of  the 
homes  have  four  rooms,  but  there  is  little  uniform- 
ity in  construction.  Each  is  so  designed  that  it  has 
features  distinctive  from  its  neighbor,  but  all  set 
back  an  equal  distance  from  the  street,  being  sepa- 
rated by  a  wide  stretch  of  lawn.  Shrubbery 
abounds,  and  during  the  summer  months  there 
is  a  perfect  riot  of  flowers  about  the  porches  and 
windows  of  these  homes.  The  shrubbery  is 
planted  by  the  company,  but  the  flowers  are  fur- 
nished by  the  families  occupying  the  homes,  and 
the  abundance  of  blossoms  bears  witness  to  the 

[  148] 


CONSERVING  THE   HUMAN   ELEMENT 

zeal  of  the  householders  in  the  matter  of  beauty. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  tennis  courts  in  Ala- 
bama adjoins  the  white  school,  and  there  is  also 
a  well  appointed  court  for  the  public,  in  addition 
to  a  large  athletic  field.  This  field,  though  quite 
a  distance  from  the  heart  of  the  village,  is  reached 
by  a  paved  road,  flanked  by  a  concrete  walk. 

The  crescent  lake  is  compassed  by  high  and 
heavily  wooded  bluffs  as  a  rule,  the  village  being 
about  a  hundred  feet  above  the  water  level.  Splen- 
did bathing  facilities  are  afforded,  and  there  are 
some  beautiful  scenes  along  the  lake.  This  lake 
is  the  chief  source  of  supply  for  many  of  the  great 
industries  of  the  Tennessee  Company  in  and  about 
Ensley,  and  was  provided  for  this  purpose  by  the 
construction  of  a  ninety-foot  dam  of  concrete. 
Furnaces,  mills,  coal  washers  and  the  like  con- 
sume an  immense  quantity  of  water,  and  every 
effort  is  made  to  conserve  this  very  necessary  pro- 
duct. Water  pumped  from  mines  is  brought  into 
service,  and  many  ingenious  methods  are  adopted 
in  making  the  same  water  serve  over  and  over 
again.  Even  the  water  which  drips  from  coal 
cars,  where  freshly  washed  coal  has  been  loaded, 
is  caused  to  run  into  depressions,  from  which  it  is 
carried  back  to  serve  in  washing  more  coal. 

Water  for  human  consumption  is  also  pro- 
vided in  the  greatest  abundance.    Sanitary  drink- 

[  149  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

ing  fountains,  from  wMcli  ice  cold  water  is  drawn, 
are  found  at  convenient  points  in  and  about  every 
plant  where  men  are  employed.  For  this  purpose 
City  of  Birmingham  water  is  provided,  coming 
through  pipes  which  are  coiled  through  under- 
ground ice  chests. 

In  Bayview  the  dispensary,  a  neat  brick  build- 
ing, stands  upon  a  knoll,  and  here  one  may  observe 
some  interesting  and  enlightening  incidents;  in- 
cidents which  graphically  illustrate  how  the  new 
order  has  succeeded  the  old.  It  is  much  more  than 
a  place  for  giving  treatment  to  such  as  may  be 
injured.  Here  a  ''baby  clinic''  is  conducted  every 
Thursday,  the  tots  of  the  community  being 
weighed  and  examined  to  see  just  how  they  are 
faring  since  coming  ''out  of  the  nowhere  into  the 
here.''  Nutrition  classes  also  are  conducted  regu- 
larly, and  the  children  brought  into  this  class  are 
watched  with  the  greatest  care.  The  utmost  co- 
operation exists  between  the  health  department 
and  the  schools,  and  children  brought  into  the 
nutrition  class  are  given  close  supervision  in  the 
school  room.  If  the  physician  prescribes  an  hour 
of  rest  at  a  certain  time  during  the  day,  the  teacher 
sees  that  the  child  is  snugly  laid  away  for  this 
hour.  Meanwhile  the  progress  of  the  child  in  the 
home  is  watched  by  the  woman  visitor,  who  works 
in  co-operation  with  the  camp  physician. 

[  150  ] 


CONSERVINa  THE  HUMAN  ELEMENT 

Wliether  it  is  the  romantic  setting,  or  tlie  pres- 
ence of  an  unusually  appreciative  people,  that 
causes  the  drama  to  flourish  so  in  this  community, 
I  know  not,  but  the  fact  is  that  here  the  art  finds 
expression  in  many  excellent  performances,  and 
enjoys  a  patronage  that  truly  is  remarkable. 

The  fame  of  the  dramatic  organization  of  Bay- 
view  is  known  throughout  the  Birmingham  dis- 
trict, and  each  winter  the  club  goes  over  a  regular 
circuit,  givmg  entertainments  in  other  villages. 
In  this  wise  the  joy  and  the  inspiration  of  the 
drama  is  spread  abroad. 

Viewing  what  is  going  on  at  Bayview,  and  in 
other  well  appointed  industrial  communities,  I 
wonder  at  the  persistence  of  the  word  **camp,'' 
a  term  used  by  about  nine  out  of  ten  persons  in 
referring  to  these  villages.  **Camp"  suggests 
something  rough  and  transitory ;  a  sort  of  tempor- 
ary make-shift,  and  nothing  more  misleading  could 
be  imagined  when  applied  to  such  places  as  these ; 
places  where  permanency  is  suggested  at  every 
turn ;  by  well  paved  streets,  by  concrete  sidewalks, 
by  splendid  brick  buildings,  and  by  homes  in 
which  the  occupants  take  the  greatest  delight  in 
making  the  surroundings  attractive.  In  the  pro- 
gress of  industry  in  this  district,  **camp"  has  be- 
come a  misnomer  that  should  be  erased. 

Returning  for  a  moment  to  the  dispensary,  it 
[  151  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

may  be  observed  that  here  is  where  the  teeth  of 
the  community  are  kept  in  shape  for  the  daily 
grind.  A  well  equipped  dental  office  is  maintaineci; 
and  the  dentist  drops  in  periodically,  giving  spe- 
cial attention  to  the  children. 

Eeference  has  been  made  to  the  fact  that  the 
only  **manless''  coal  tipple  in  Alabama,  and  prob- 
ably in  the  South,  is  at  Bay  view.  With  the  tipple, 
the  crusher  and  the  washer,  all  working  auto- 
matically and  forming  a  towering  series  of  struc- 
tures, it  presents  an  impressive  view,  and  bears 
eloquent  testimony  to  the  ingenuity  shown  by  man 
in  the  elimination  of  grinding  labor  and  in  the 
promotion  of  safety. 

And  speaking  of  safety,  it  is  a  fact  that  one  of 
these  modem  mines,  with  its  multiplicity  of  de- 
vices for  the  prevention  of  accidents,  is  much 
safer  than  the  average  city  street.  Consider  the 
matter  of  fresh  air,  which  is  essential  to  the  well- 
being  of  the  men  who  toil  far  down  in  the  earth. 
At  Bayview,  and  many  other  mines,  a  constant 
flow  is  insured  by  duplicate  machinery  and  multi- 
plied means  of  propulsion.  Here  the  fans  may  be 
operated  by  three  sources  of  power,  all  of  which 
are  instantly  available.  These  include  hydro- 
electric power,  power  generated  in  the  local  plant, 
and  power  furnished  by  steam.    If  any  source  of 

[  152  ] 


'm,  i^^E&^.vP^'s^ffi^"^*: 


• 

K 

|i.=lii;i/'' 

1 
i 
1 

] 

HOMES   OF    MINERS   IN    MODERN    VILLAGE 


CONSERVING  THE  HUMAN  ELEMENT 

power  fails,  another  is  brought  into  action  with- 
out a  moment's  loss  of  time. 

A  great  concrete  tunnel,  arched  and  massive, 
and  carrying  two  extra  width  railroad  tracks, 
drops  from  the  Bayview  tipple  to  the  loading  level, 
hundreds  of  feet  below.  Steel  cars  move  down 
this  slope  to  what  might  aptly  be  termed  a  great 
railroad  terminal;  a  point  from  which  radiate 
all  the  lines  that  permeate  the  mine.  As  the  loaded 
cars  swing  in  from  these  diverse  lines,  they  pass 
over  the  cars  connected  with  the  tipple,  and  are 
dumped  automatically.  As  soon  as  a  car  is  loaded, 
it  runs  to  the  surface,  climbs  the  tipple,  is  dumped 
automatically,  and  drops  back  to  receive  another 
load.  Meanwhile  the  coal  which  has  just  been 
delivered  to  the  tipple  is  carried  upon  belt  con- 
veyors to  the  crusher,  and  thence  to  the  washer, 
from  which  it  falls  into  railroad  cars  that  carry 
it  to  the  coke  oven.  One  man  attends  to  the  load- 
ing in  the  mine,  and  another  operates  the  hoisting 
machinery,  but  this  is  the  only  labor  involved  until 
the  coal  reaches  the  washer. 

A  separate  slope  carries  the  miners  in  and  out 
and  conveys  all  the  materials  and  supplies  that 
go  into  the  mine.  No  coal  passes  through  it,  while 
nothing  but  coal  goes  through  the  other  slope.  All 
of  the  machinery  is  electrically  driven. 

To  follow  a  car  of  coal,  as  it  moves  from  this 
[  153] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

mine,  furnislies  an  illuminating  experience.  It 
goes  to  the  great  by-product  plant  at  Fairfield, 
where  it  passes  into  one  of  the  many  coke  ovens. 
There  it  is  subjected  to  hours  of  ^'cooking,''  gas 
accumulated  from  other  loads  of  coal  furnishing 
the  fuel.  When  the  tremendous  heat  has  trans- 
formed the  coal  into  coke,  a  giant  engine,  the  es- 
sential feature  of  which  is  a  lengthy  ^^ram,'* 
moves  up  while  another  machine  lifts  the  door  off 
the  furnace.  Then  the  *  ^  ram, ' '  which  conforms  to 
the  shape  of  the  high  and  narrow  oven,  pushes  the 
glowing  mass  out  the  other  end  of  the  oven,  where 
it  falls  into  a  steel  car,  which  moves  slowly  along 
in  order  that  the  seething  mass  may  be  evenly 
distributed  as  it  tumbles  out.  This  car  is  driven 
by  an  electric  engine  that  looks  much  like  a  war- 
time *Hank,*'  this  appearance  being  suggested  by 
the  way  in  which  the  engineer  is  housed  about  by 
steel,  designed  to  protect  him  from  the  heat. 

The  car  of  red-hot  coke  is  run  into  a  shower, 
where  it  is  cooled  by  the  water,  and  then  it  is 
dumped  upon  a  tilted  platform  of  steel,  down 
which  it  rolls  to  a  belt  conveyor  and  is  carried  off 
to  furnish  fuel  for  the  huge  battery  of  furnaces, 
where  ore  is  being  smelted  into  iron. 

If  one  will  picture  in  his  mind  a  box  such  as 
the  familiar  Christmas  neckties  come  in,  and  then 
multiply  the  size  of  this  box  scores  of  times,  he 

[  154] 


CONSERVING  THE  HUMAN  ELEMENT 

may  form  a  rough  idea  of  the  shape  of  these  by- 
product coke  ovens.  High,  narrow  and  deep,  they 
stand  side  by  side  in  long  tiers.  Over  them  may. 
be  observed  certain  pipes,  and  these  pipes  play  a 
most  important  part  in  the  performance.  For 
the  making  of  coke  is  but  one  of  the  functions  of 
the  coke  oven.    The  other  is  to  create  gas. 

In  another  chapter  has  been  told  the  story  of 
the  great  coal  *Hree;''  showing  how  many  and 
varied  are  the  by-products  of  this  wonderful  min- 
eral. Here  one  sees  some  of  the  processes  by 
which  these  by-products  are  caught,  **on  the 
wing,''  as  it  were. 

The  gas,  coming  from  the  coke  oven,  is  conveyed 
hither  and  yon,  passing  through  a  huge  tank  here, 
and  a  great  vat  there,  and  at  every  stage  of  the 
journey  it  is  robbed  of  some  element.  It  starts 
out  like  a  beautiful  bunch  of  grapes,  but  is  picked 
on  by  one  process  after  another  until,  you  might 
say,  nothing  is  left  but  the  stem.  Benzol,  naphtha- 
lene, ammonium  sulphate,  ammonia  and  tar  are 
the  chief  products  at  this  plant,  these  products 
being  susceptible  to  many  transformations. 

The  processes  are  far  too  technical  for  the  lay- 
man, but  one  cannot  go  over  such  a  plant,  so  colos- 
sal in  its  proportions,  without  feeling  an  inclina- 
tion to  take  his  hat  off  to  the  men  who  devised 
such  processes  and  achieved  such  amazing  results. 

[  155  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

This  plant,  a  subsidiary  of  the  United  States 
Steel  Corporation,  adjoins  the  Ensley  and  Fair- 
field works,  subsidiaries  of  the  same  organizations, 
and  the  gas,  after  being  stripped,  as  above  out- 
lined, is  piped  to  these  plants,  there  to  perform  a 
multiplicity  of  service.  Immense  quantities  are 
consumed  in  the  process  of  converting  iron  into 
steel;  in  keeping  white-hot  the  great  furnaces  in 
which  slabs  of  steel,  often  weighing  thousands  of 
pounds,  are  heated  for  forging,  and  in  many  other 
operations.  Steam  has  become  obsolete  in  the 
Fairfield  plants,  gas  and  electricity  furnishing  the 
fuel  and  the  power. 

The  attitude  of  the  men  about  these  plants  forms 
an  interesting  study,  and  one  cannot  fail  to  be  im- 
pressed by  the  feehng  of  proprietorship  and  the 
pride  of  performance  which  characterizes  them. 
This  is  due  in  large  part  to  the  fact  that  the  men, 
in  many  instances,  actually  own  a  part  of  the  plant 
in  which  they  work,  a  majority  of  the  employees 
of  the  Steel  Corporation  being  stockholders.  As 
the  jockey  pats  his  horse,  and  tells  marvelous 
tales  of  its  feat  upon  the  track,  so  these  men, 
figuratively  speaking,  pat  the  giant  machines  with 
which  they  work  and  fill  one^s  ears  with  such  stor- 
ies of  accomplishments  as  seem  almost  unbeliev- 
able. But  always  the  record  is  there  to  sustain 
them.    However,  your  thoughts  are  not  so  much 

[156] 


CONSEEVING  THE  HUMAN  ELEMENT 

upon  their  words  as  upon  the  spirit  that  prompts 
the  utterance.  Why  should  a  grimy  figure  upon 
the  huge  coal  washer  fill  your  ears  with  a  wonder- 
ful story  of  what  the  washer  is  accomplishing,  and 
be  so  eager  to  impress  you  with  the  idea  that  no 
other  washer  is  quite  so  capable  of  doing  the  job? 
Or  why  should  a  furnace  man,  looking  like  a  pigmy 
beside  the  towering  stack,  talk  of  that  stack's  per- 
formances as  a  father  might  boast  of  the  accom- 
plishments of  a  son?  And  the  men  at  the  coal 
mines  and  the  ore  mines,  why  their  zeal  to  im- 
press you  with  the  idea  that  while  other  mines 
may  have  some  very  excellent  appointments,  their 
particular  mine  has  this  or  that  feature  which 
places  it  a  bit  in  the  forefront? 

I  recall  going  through  a  factory  big  enough  to 
cover  a  city  block.  It  was  at  the  close  of  the  noon 
hour,  and  the  machines,  strung  out  in  long  lines, 
were  just  starting  up.  The  superintendent 
stepped  up  to  one  of  these  machines  and  asked  the 
stocky  man  in  charge  how  soon  it  would  be  run- 
ning. *'In  a  minute, '^  was  the  reply,  the  operator 
at  the  moment  being  engaged  in  oiling  his  machine. 
This  done,  he  turned  to  the  furnace  that  glowed 
beside  him,  and  examined  the  sundry  bars  of  steel 
that  were  being  heated  preparatory  to  working. 
Unhurried,  he  watched  the  rapid  evolutions  of  his 
machine  and  the  color  of  the  steel,  as  the  heat  in- 

[  157  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

creased,  and  then,  when  everything  was  just  right, 
he  began  to  feed  those  ruddy  bars  into  the  hungry 
mouth  of  the  hurrying  machine,  and  nuts  began  to 
rain  into  a  receptacle  below  it.  Then,  with  a  long 
pair  of  tongs,  he  picked  up  one  of  these  nuts  and 
passed  it  pridefully  over  to  the  superintendent  in 
order  that  I  might  see  at  close  range  just  what 
wonders  his  machine  could  accomplish. 

Again  I  stood  beside  a  man  who  operated  a 
towering  press  engaged  in  shaping  sheets  of  steel 
for  use  in  building  railroad  cars.  Amid  the  roar 
and  din,  he  stopped  to  tell  me  that  the  machine 
would  exert  so  many  thousands  of  pounds  of  pres- 
sure—  how  many  pounds,  I  do  not  recall,  but  I 
got  the  idea  he  wished  to  convey,  which  was  that 
the  machine  before  which  I  stood  was  in  a  class 
by  itself.  In  this  shop,  more  than  a  thousand  feet 
in  length,  were  other  wonderful  machines.  Some 
could  punch  unprecedented  numbers  of  holes  in 
sheets  of  steel  at  one  operation,  and  others  could 
make  record-breaking  cuts  when  it  came  to  trim- 
ming steel.  And  so  it  went,  pride  of  performance 
cropping  out  at  every  turn. 

Analyzing  this  evident  feeling  of  proprietorship 
on  the  part  of  the  men,  and  this  feeling  of  mani- 
fest pride  in  the  accomplishments  made  possible 
by  modern  methods,  one  is  forced  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  co-operation  between  the  company  and 

[  158  ] 


CONSERVING  THE  HUMAN  ELEMENT 

the  men  in  making  the  home  life  and  the  com- 
munity life  pleasant,  has  brought  about  a  like 
measure  of  co-operation  in  the  operation  of  the 
enterprises  upon  which  the  home  and  the  com- 
munity are  founded.  The  company,  co-operating 
with  the  men,  seeks  to  make  the  home  life  pleas- 
ant ;  the  men,  co-operating  with  the  company,  seek 
to  make  the  enterprise  profitable.  That's  the  way 
it  seems  to  work,  and  that's  the  explanation  of  the 
tremendous  expenditures  for  schools,  for  educa- 
tional advantages,  for  recreational  features,  for 
amusements  and  the  like. 

Some  of  the  industrial  organizations  which  have 
been  so  active  in  making  these  communities  attrac- 
tive, and  in  giving  every  possible  advantage  to  the 
employees,  have  been  charged  with  harboring 
paternalistic  tendencies,  when  the  truth  is  that 
they  have  learned  a  new  lesson  in  investment,  and 
are  putting  their  money  into  these  things  because 
it  pays.  They  act  upon  the  principle  that  *^  the 
quality  of  the  product  is  a  composite  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  men  who  make  it." 

Modern  merchants  do  not  provide  wonderful 
window  displays  because  they  like  to  spend  large 
sums  for  window-dressers,  or  to  lend  so  much  val- 
uable space  to  the  creation  of  a  pleasing  picture. 
They  do  it  because  it  commands  the  attention  and 
the  admiration  of  people  on  the  outside,  and  at- 

[  159  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIEMINGHAM 

tracts  them  into  the  store,  where  they  may  become 
permanent  contributors  to  the  success  of  the  estab- 
hshment.  Actuated  by  like  motives,  the  far-seeing 
industrial  organizations  seek  to  make  their  vil- 
lages sufficiently  attractive  to  bring  into  them  men 
who  will  become  permanent  contributors  to  the 
success  of  their  enterprises. 


C  160  ] 


CHAPTEE  XII 

IRON   FOR  THE   CONFEDERACY 

THOUGH  Birmingham  had  not  come  into 
existence  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  War, 
the  fact  that  the  ingredients  for  iron 
making  existed  in  this  district  was  known  years 
before  that  conflict,  and  when  the  Confederate 
Government  began  to  manufacture  implements  of 
war,  one  of  the  first  steps  was  to  invade  the  min- 
eral section  of  North  Alabama  for  materials. 
Two  furnaces  were  built  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
valley  in  which  Birmingham  is  located,  and  here 
iron  for  the  manufacture  of  cannon  was  turned 
out. 

An  arsenal  was  erected  at  Selma,  and  iron  from 
this  district  was  carried  to  that  city  to  be  con- 
verted into  cannon.  The  furnaces  from  which 
this  metal  came  were  known  as  the  Ironton  fur- 

[  161] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

nace  and  the  Irondale  furnace.  The  former,  first 
to  be  erected,  had  been  in  blast  only  a  short  time 
when  it  was  put  out  of  business  by  Wilson  ^s  riders. 
The  latter,  located  in  an  almost  inaccessible  spot 
and  difficult  to  find  even  today,  being  invisible  until 
one  is  fairly  upon  it,  escaped  discovery  and  was  in 
operation  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

The  Irondale  furnace  was  built  by  W.  S.  McEl- 
wain,  a  New  Englander  by  birth  but  an  *'unre- 
generated  rebeP^  by  inclination.  He  came  to 
Alabama  from  Holly  Springs,  Miss.,  where  he  had 
operated  a  foundry  that  was  busily  engaged  in 
manufacturing  cannon,  rifles,  swords,  shells  and 
other  implements  of  warfare  for  the  Confederate 
Government. 

When  Mississippi  was  invaded  by  the  Union 
forces,  the  plant  of  McElwain,  which  was  credited 
with  making  the  first  cannon  used  by  Confederate 
artillerymen,  was  destroyed  and  McElwain  was 
forced  to  flee.  Knowing  something  of  the  iron 
deposits  in  North  Alabama,  he  came  to  this  dis- 
trict, bought  several  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the 
vicinity  of  Irondale,  and  at  once  built  the  furnace 
which  stands  there  today.  It  served  the  Confed- 
eracy well,  but  remained  idle  for  a  long  time  after 
the  close  of  the  conflict  between  the  states.  How- 
ever, in  1868,  it  was  again  put  in  blast,  this  time 
by  an  Ohio  firm  which  began  preparations  for  the 

[  162  ] 


IRON  FOR   THE   CONFEDERACY 

erection  of  a  rolling  roill.  The  plan  did  not  ma- 
terialize, however,  and  the  operation  of  the  fur- 
nace finally  was  suspended.  In  1871,  the  year  of 
Birmingham's  birth,  a  Pennsylvania  firm  acquired 
the  property  by  lease,  and  operated  it  for  some 
time. 

Samuel  Davis,  who  was  connected  with  the 
Pennsylvania  interests  and  who  became  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  ancient  Irondale  furnace, 
through  daily  contact,  now  resides  in  New  Jersey, 
where,  when  he  learned  that  the  property  had  been 
purchased  by  George  Gordon  Crawford,  President 
of  the  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  &  Railroad  Company, 
he  wrote  an  interesting  description  of  the  old-time 
plant  and  sent  it  to  Mr.  Crawford,  together  with 
a  number  of  photographic  views  taken  during  the 
early  days. 

The  furnace  is  an  ordinary  stone  stack  with 
four  arches  lined  with  red  brick,  having  an  open 
top  and  being  about  thirty  feet  square  at  the  base. 
It  is  thirty-five  feet  high,  and  at  that  time  was 
equipped  with  a  single  blowing  engine.  The  out- 
put in  the  beginning  was  from  ^ve  to  seven  tons 
per  day,  though  this  was  increased  somewhat  by 
the  installation  of  a  hot  blast.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  in  this  connection  that  as  much  as  609  tons 
of  iron  have  been  produced  in  a  single  day  at  one 
of  the  huge  furnaces  in  the  Tennessee  plant  at 

[  163  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

Ensley.  The  general  superintendent  of  the  plant 
was  James  Thomas,  who  afterwards  became  a 
large  figure  in  the  iron  industry  of  Birmingham, 
and  who  is  credited  by  Mr.  Davis  with  being  the 
first  man  to  make  Birmingham  iron  into  pig  by 
the  coke  process,  this  at  the  Oxmoor  furnace  in 
1876. 

The  ore,  brown  hemetite,  was  mined  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  from  the  furnace  and  was  carried  to  the 
furnace  by  gravity,  the  empty  cars  being  carried 
back  both  by  oxen  and  mule  teams.  The  limestone 
was  obtained  in  the  same  vicinity,  and  the  fuel, 
wood,  was  cut  within  a  radius  of  six  miles,  being 
reduced  to  charcoal  in  pits.  A  highly  ingenious, 
arrangement  for  hoisting  the  fuel  was  worked  out. 
It  was  known  as  a  '* water  hoist,''  and  consisted 
of  two  water-tight  compartments.  When  one  of 
these  compartments  was  flooded  the  fuel  container 
went  up ;  when  the  water  was  withdrawn,  it  came 
down !  This  neat  arrangement  worked  in  a  highly 
satisfactory  manner.  The  furnace  helpers  num- 
bered about  twenty,  while  wood-choppers,  char- 
coal burners  and  teamsters  numbered  about 
thirty. 

The  Irondale  furnace  was  abandoned  finally  in 
the  early  seventies,  and  is  now  a  picturesque  ruin. 
The  furnace  and  the  abandoned  farm  upon  which 
it  is  located  were  purchased  by  Mr.  Crawford 

L  164  1 


IRON  FOR   THE    CONFEDERACY 

largely  through  sentimental  reasons.  His  owner- 
ship of  a  useless  furnace  and  an  abandoned  farm 
has  occasioned  much  friendly  raillery  by  his 
friends,  among  whom  speculation  as  to  whether 
he  would  lose  more  money  in  operating  the  farm 
than  he  would  in  operating  the  furnace,  continues 
even  to  this  day. 

The  Ironton  furnace,  though  destroyed  in  part 
by  Union  forces,  was  never  abandoned.  At  the 
time  of  the  founding  of  Birmingham  it  had  been 
rebuilt,  much  of  the  money  being  provided  by 
Daniel  Pratt,  the  shrewd  New  Englander  who  had 
improved  Eli  Whitney's  cotton  gin  and  become 
rich  through  the  operation  of  a  gin  factory  at 
Prattville.  As  in  many  other  enterprises  in  these 
days,  the  dominant  spirits  were  ex-Confederate 
soldiers,  Henry  D.  Clayton,  Daniel  S.  Troy,  H.  F. 
DeBardeleben,  all  of  whom  had  served  the  Con- 
federacy and  all  of  whom  became  historic  figures 
in  the  State. 

When  Birmingham  was  founded,  this  furnace 
plant  was  operated  by  the  Red  Mountain  Iron 
Company,  which  had  acquired  six  thousand  acres 
of  land,  including  a  large  section  of  Red  Moun- 
tain, and  was  actively  engaged  in  trying  to  locate 
other  furnaces  in  the  vicinity.  A  New  York  news- 
paper of  1873  carried  the  announcement  that  this 
company  would  furnish  locations  for  furnaces  on 
[  165] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

their  property  * '  at  a  merely  nominal  figure, ' '  and 
"will  then  agree  to  furnish  all  the  material  for 
making  iron,  delivered  at  the  furnace  for  $11  a  ton 
for  each  ton  of  pig  iron  produced."  The  mate- 
rials to  be  furnished  for  $11  were  enumerated  as 
follows : 

2  tons  iron  ore $1  50 

11/2  tons  coke 9  00 

Limestone 50 

"Companies  availing  themselves  of  this  oppor- 
tunity,'^ the  announcement  continued,  "will  es- 
cape much  of  the  outlay  attending  the  starting  of 
an  independent  furnace."  But  the  idea  seemed 
not  to  have  appealed  very  strongly  to  the  furnace 
builders  of  that  period,  for  while  the  time  oame 
when  many  new  stacks  were  built  in  and  about 
Birmingham,  none  arose  to  keep  company  w^ith 
the  pioneer  at  Ironton,  now  known  as  Oxmoor. 

At  the  time  the  Red  Mountain  Iron  Company, 
which  long  since  passed  out  of  existence,  was  at- 
tempting to  bring  other  enterprises  of  like  char- 
acter into  this  district,  and  was  offering  to  supply 
coke  at  $6  per  ton,  no  process  had  been  found  for 
the  successful  conversion  of  Birmingham  coal  into 
coke,  and  the  Ironton  furnace  was  being  operated 
with  charcoal.  But  the  men  behind  the  enterprise 
had  made  up  their  minds  that  they  were  going  to 
produce  coke  for  iron  making,  and,  to  show  that 

[  166  ] 


[RON  FOR   THE   CONFEDERACY 

their  hearts  were  in  the  right  place,  they  offered 
freely  to  share  the  coke  which  was  yet  to  be  pro- 
duced with  other  ironmakers,  yet  to  be  produced. 

That  the  vast  assurance  thus  displayed  was  jus- 
tified in  a  measure,  subsequent  events  proved. 
Yet  the  justification  did  not  come  forthwith.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  was  three  years  later  before  the 
first  coke  iron  was  made  in  Birmingham.  But 
when  finally  it  was  produced  it  was  produced  at 
this  very  furnace.  The  story  of  how  this  triumph 
was  achieved  and  its  vast  significance  to  the  dis- 
trict, is  told  in  another  chapter. 

The  same  metropolitan  journal  that  carried  the 
announcement  of  the  furnace  company,  carried 
also  an  article  by  James  R.  Powell,  *'the  Duke  of 
Birmingham,"  in  which  he  pictured  the  glories  of 
the  new  city  in  language  vibrant  with  the  spirit  of 
the  times.    Hear  him : 

**Wliile  other  sections  of  the  State,  and  of  al- 
most the  entire  South,  have  been  oppressed  by 
calamities,  political  and  financial,  consequent  upon 
the  war  — our  section,  its  healthful  climate  cheer- 
ing the  invalid  —  its  fertile  valleys  tempting  the 
agriculturist,  and  its  pregnant  mountains  groan- 
ing to  be  delivered  of  their  wealth,  our  favored 
section,  the  Eldorado  of  the  iron-masters,  soon  to 
be  penetrated  by  railroads  from  every  point  of  the 
compass,  invites  with  open  arms  and  with  full 

[  167  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

capacity  to  entertain  them  as  congenial  spirits  — 
skilled  labor,  capital  and  intelligence  from  every 
portion  of  the  globe,  affording  opportunities  and 
facilities  to  all  to  exercise  their  functions  and  en- 
dowments in  their  most  agreeable  vocations/' 

From  the  above  paragraph,  which  is  reproduced 
just  as  it  appeared  in  New  York  on  April  5,  1873, 
it  requires  no  Sherlock  to  deduce  that  Colonel 
Powell  thought  right  well  of  his  little  town.  How- 
ever, if  additional  evidence  is  needed,  it  may  be 
found  in  a  report  he  issued  on  January  25,  1872, 
and  which  also  was  published  in  New  York,  the 
title  being  ^^The  Rise  and  Progress  of  Birming- 
ham, Ala."  To  appreciate  this  title  fully,  one 
should  remember  that  Birmingham  had  then  been 
incorporated  a  fraction  less  than  sixty  days  and 
that  six  months  before  an  ancient  blacksmith  shop 
was  the  only  building  on  the  ground. 

After  pointing  out  the  great  embarrassment 
caused  by  the  suspension  of  operations  on  the  part 
of  the  Alabama  and  Chattanooga  Railroad,  and  the 
failure  of  the  South  and  North  Railroad  to  begin 
regular  operations  until  November,  1871,  which 
condition  made  the  procurement  of  lumber  almost 
impossible.  Colonel  Powell  proceeded: 

**It  is  gratif}dng  that,  with  all  these  embar- 
rassing surroundings,  Birmingham  has  grown 
from  a  barren  waste  to  the  proportions  of  a  city  in 

[  168  ] 


':^^y  ? 


IRON  FOR  THE   CONFEDERACY 

five  months  from  the  commencement  of  the  first 
building,  with  a  population  of  from  seven  to  eight 
hundred,  drawn  from  the  best  material  of  this 
and  adjoining  states,  and  about  125  houses,  all 
well  built  and  of  good  material;  among  them  are 
a  railroad  hotel  with  thirty-seven  rooms,  seven- 
teen two  and  three  story  brick  stores  completed 
and  in  progress;  about  thirty-five  frame  stores 
of  one  and  two  stories;  some  sixty  dwellings, 
many  of  them  creditable  to  a  city  of  much  larger 
growth  and  maturer  age;  two  planing  mills,  one 
in  successful  operation  and  another  about  ready 
to  start,  and  one  to  manufacture  sash,  doors, 
blinds,  etc.;  two  grist-mills  in  rapid  progress  of 
erection;  one  newspaper  and  job  printing  office; 
one  extensive  livery  stable ;  five  boarding  houses ; 
two  bakeries  and  two  restaurants,  and  all  the 
other  accompaniments  to  a  thriving  and  progres- 
sive city,  including  express,  telegraph  and  post- 
offices. 

*'In  the  proof  of  the  rapid  growth  of  the  city, 
I  will  here  state  that  so  recently  as  August  last, 
the  present  beautiful  site  of  the  central  feature  of 
the  city  was  a  low,  flat  marsh,  covered  with  water 
and  an  almost  impenetrable  jungle  of  vines  and 
trees.'* 

The  '* central  feature  of  the  city"  to  which 
Colonel  Powell  referred  was  Lynn  Park,  then  at 

[  169  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

the  Southwest  corner  of  First  Avenue  and  Twen- 
tieth Street.  This  ^'low  flat  marsh''  is  the  hub  of 
Birmingham  today,  and  the  corner  where  grew  the 
*' almost  impenetrable  jungle,"  is  described  by  the 
modern  enthusiast  as  *Hhe  heaviest  in  the  world.'' 
It  is  so  designated  because  each  corner  of  the  in- 
tersection is  occupied  by  a  large  office  building, 
the  aggregate  height  of  the  four  being  sixty-two 
stories.  It  was  on  one  of  these  corners,  now  occu- 
pied by  the  largest  office  building  in  the  South,  that 
Charles  Lynn,  pioneer  banker,  erected  what  for 
that  period  was  a  building  of  unusual  magnifi- 
cence. He  did  this  when  Birmingham  was  in  its 
swaddling  clothes,  and  for  several  years  the  struc- 
ture was  pointed  to  as  ** Lynn's  folly."  It  was  an 
ornament  to  the  city  for  over  three  decades,  and 
then  gave  way  to  a  sixteen-story  structure  con- 
taining over  eight  hundred  offices. 

Colonel  Powell,  as  head  of  the  pioneer  Elyton 
Land  Company,  which  founded  Birmingham  and 
steered  it  to  permanency  before  passing  from  the 
stage,  came  forward  in  February,  1873,  with  an- 
other resume  of  things  accomplished,  and  with 
more  buoyant  prognostication  of  things  to  come. 
He  said  then : 

**Our  population  now  is  about  4,000,  with  about 
500  houses,  of  which  fifty-four  are  brick  or  stone 
(none  less  than  two  stories  high),  and  about  125 
[  170  ] 


IRON  FOR   THE   CONFEDERACY 

frame  stores;  the  remainder  consisting  of  about 
250  neat  and  substantial  brick  and  frame  dwel- 
lings, six  churches  —  which  were  erected  by  our 
own  citizens  almost  entirely  without  assistance 
from  abroad  —  two  public  halls,  four  hotels  of 
from  10  to  30  rooms  each,  several  private  board- 
ing houses  and  restaurants,  a  national  bank  in 
successful  operation  several  manufacturing 
establishments,  and  all  the  other  concomitants 
which  go  to  make  up  a  prosperous  and  thriving 
city." 

The  Birmingham  described  in  this  language  was 
the  Birmingham  upon  which  the  cholera  epidemic 
laid  its  blight  just  four  months  after  the  words 
were  written.  The  effect  of  the  epidemic  was  to 
empty  the  stores  and  dwellings  and  to  leave  the 
little  city  prostrate,  the  high  hopes  of  its  people 
being  crushed  to  earth  for  the  time  being. 

Proceeding,  Colonel  Powell  gave  utterance  to 
this  significant  paragraph : 

*^I  can  with  pride  point  to  our  people  as  a  bright 
exception  to  the  general  character  of  population 
forming  new  towns.  Our  churches  attest  that  our 
people  are  moral  and  religious,  and  our  city  court 
records  prove  that  crime  is  almost  unknown 
among  us.'' 

The  condition  thus  described  did  not  continue, 
as  lawlessness  became  rampant  in  latter  years,  but 

[  171  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

the  religious  and  moral  spirit  to  which  he  referred 
remained,  and  in  the  end  it  triumphed  over  the  ele- 
ments which,  for  a  time,  ran  a  riotous  course. 
And  the  same  fine  spirit  survives  today  —  its 
presence  proclaimed  by  many  magnificent  temples 
of  worship,  and  by  the  high  moral  tone  which 
characterizes  the  community. 

The  decade  between  1880  and  1890  proved  the 
golden  age  in  furnace  building  in  and  about  Birm- 
ingham. It  having  been  demonstrated  at  the 
rejuvenated  Oxmoor  furnace  that  iron  could  be 
made  of  Birmingham  ores,  numerous  furnace 
companies  were  organized  and  new  stacks  began 
to  go  up  in  all  quarters.  The  Woodward  Com- 
pany, today  one  of  the  great  industrial  agencies 
in  the  district,  erected  two  furnaces.  The  Alice 
Furnace  Company  built  two,  the  Sloss  Company, 
another  present-day  giant  in  the  iron  industry, 
erected  two,  subsequently  acquiring  two  put  up  by 
the  Coalburg  Coal  &  Coke  Company;  the  Mary 
Pratt  Company  put  up  one,  the  Williamson  Com- 
pany one,  the  Bessemer  Company  two,  the  Ten- 
nessee Company  four,  and  the  Pioneer  Company 
two. 

The  output  of  these  early  furnaces  ran  as  a  rule 
between  fifty  and  sixty  tons  per  day,  but  in  1886 
furnace  No.  2  of  the  Sloss  Company  was  pro- 
claimed a  record-breaker,  having  produced  150 

[  172  ] 


IRON  FOR   THE   CONFEDERACY 

tons  within  twenty-four  hours.  This  was  said  to 
have  been  the  greatest  tonnage  ever  produced  at  a 
Southern  furnace  up  to  that  time. 

Since  that  date  the  breaking  of  records  has  been 
the  usual  thing  in  the  Birmingham  field.  Fur- 
naces were  rebuilt  as  methods  became  obsolete  and 
the  necessity  for  increased  production  arose,  with 
the  result  that  the  sites  are  about  all  that  remain 
of  the  first  iron-makers,  enormous  stacks  standing 
where  the  small  ones  stood  in  the  earlier  days. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  production  of 
609  tons  of  iron  in  a  single  day  at  the  Ensley  plant, 
where  six  giant  furnaces  stand  today.  Furnace 
No.  3  in  this  group  holds  the  world  ^s  record  for 
production  without  relining.  It  ran  for  ten  years 
and  ^ve  months,  and  produced  a  total  of  1,429,000 
tons  of  iron  before  operations  had  to  be  suspended 
in  order  to  put  in  a  new  lining.  No.  2  furnace^ 
standing  shoulder  to  shoulder  Avith  this  record- 
breaker,  ran  it  a  remarkable  race,  going  nine  years 
and  six  months  on  the  same  lining,  and  producing 
1,192,000  tons  of  iron  before  its  interior  had  to  be 
gone  over. 

The  measure  of  progress  indicated  here  applies 
to  practically  all  the  great  iron  producing  agen- 
cies in  the  Birmingham  district.  The  Tennessee 
Company,  the  Republic  Iron  &  Steel  Company,  the 
Sloss  Company  and  the  Woodward  Company  all 

[  173  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIEMINGHAM 

have  kept  pace  with  the  industry,  as  they  have  in 
the  production  of  coal  and  ore. 

Recent  years  have  brought  tremendous  advances 
in  coke  making,  as  well  as  in  iron  making.  The 
old-fashioned  bee-hive  ovens,  which  made  good 
coke  but  which  lost  all  the  highly  valuable  ingre- 
dients of  the  coal,  have  disappeared  as  a  rule,  most 
of  the  coke  being  produced  today  under  conditions 
which  make  possible  the  salvaging  of  by-products 
that  are  of  immense  value,  and  which  form  the 
basis  of  many  important  industries  throughout  the 
district. 

With  the  passing  of  the  old-time  coke  ovens 
passed  a  picturesque  feature  from  the  local  land- 
scape. Arranged  in  long  rows,  like  bee-hives,  and 
with  smoke  and  flame  issuing  from  the  circular 
opening  at  their  peaks,  they  presented  a  remark- 
able spectacle  to  the  uninitiated  on  entering  the 
city  at  night.  Their  glare  illumined  the  heavens, 
and  their  smoke  gave  to  the  atmosphere  a  pun- 
gent odor,  somewhat  suggestive  of  the  lower 
regions.  A  lengthy  battery  of  these  ovens  stood 
for  years  along  the  lines  of  certain  railroads,  and 
it  was  not  an  unusual  thing  to  hear  some  visitor, 
arriving  at  night,  exclaim  that  Birmingham  might 
be  a  heavenly  place  in  which  to  live,  but  it  looked 
like  h from  a  railroad  train. 

This  particular  battery  of  ovens  belonged  to  the 
[  174] 


lEON   FOR   THE   CONFEDERACY 

Sloss  Company,  which  since  has  erected  an  im- 
mense by-product  plant  outside  the  city  limits. 
There  it  produces  coke  under  conditions  which 
admit  of  the  recovery  of  many  valuable  by-prod- 
ucts. It  is  from  this  plant  that  Birmingham  re- 
ceives its  gas  supply,  both  for  cooking  and  illu- 
minating purposes.  The  use  of  this  by-product, 
which  went  to  waste  in  old  days,  makes  it  possible 
for  Birmingham  citizens  to  get  their  gas  for  about 
half  as  much  as  is  paid  in  communities  where  the 
old  methods  of  gas  production  are  in  vogue. 

It  was  the  presence  of  this  gas  that  brought  the 
International  balloon  race  of  1920  to  Birmingham, 
and  it  was  with  this  gas  that  Belgium  captured  the 
trophy  and  carried  the  meet  of  1921  to  its  shores. 

By-product  gas  is  produced  in  immense  quanti- 
ties today  and  is  an  element  of  tremendous  im- 
portance in  the  industrial  life  of  the  community. 
It  is  a  prime  requisite  in  the  successful  and  eco- 
nomical operation  of  the  steel  enterprises,  and  is 
indispensable  in  the  operation  of  the  modern  fur- 
nace. It  not  only  browns  the  breakfast  biscuit,  but 
turns  the  steel  of  huge  industries  to  liquid,  and 
makes  hot  the  air  that  flows  into  the  blast  furnace. 

The  manner  in  which  the  gas  is  captured  at  a 
modern  furnace  plant  and  is  made  to  serve  the 
stack  in  which  it  is  created,  furnishes  an  apt  illus- 
tration of  how  the  iron-making  industry  has  pro- 
[  175  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

gressed.  As  the  gas  forms  in  the  furnace,  it  is  di- 
rected into  great  steel  towers,  where,  roaring  like 
a  passing  storm,  it  creates  an  inferno  of  heat. 
The  blast  of  air  passes  through  this  white-hot 
space  and  reaches  the  furnace  prepared  to  render 
maximum  efficiency  in  keeping  the  furnace  hot  and 
making  more  gas  to  heat  more  air  to  make  more 
gas,  while  the  process  of  making  iron  is  going  for- 
ward. This  description  may  seem  a  bit  involved, 
but  the  same  might  be  said  of  the  process  I  have 
attempted  to  picture.  Running  a  battery  of  giant 
furnaces  that  are  turning  out  hundreds  of  tons  of 
iron  every  few  hours  is  a  job  that  calls  for  tech- 
nical skill  of  the  highest  order,  and  a  mere  layman 
can  form  but  a  crude  conception  of  the  w^ay  in 
which  the  multiplicity  of  pipes  and  stacks  and 
whirring  engines  function.  He  looks  into  a  tiny 
opening,  like  that  in  a  microscope,  and  sees  a 
seething  inferno  in  the  belly  of  the  furnace;  his 
ears  are  assailed  by  the  roar  of  burning  gas  and 
the  thunderous  ^'blow-off"  of  the  hot  air  as  it  is 
released  from  time  to  time,  and  however  lucid  may 
be  the  exposition  of  how  it  is  all  done,  the  full 
meaning  of  some  of  the  scientific  terms  is  bound 
to  be  lost.  The  guide  is  affable,  polite  and  full  of 
information  about  heat  units,  air  velocity,  chem- 
ical content,  and  the  like,  and  can  tell  you  the  revo- 
lutions of  every  hurrying  piece  of  machinery,  but 

[  176  ] 


IRON  FOR   THE   CONFEDERACY 

what  he  knows  was  not  acquired  in  a  day,  nor  can 
the  visitor  master  it  in  an  hour  or  two.  What  the 
visitor  gets  is  an  awe-inspiring  sense  of  the  big- 
ness of  man's  achievements  and  a  new  apprecia- 
tion of  the  skill  and  knowledge  required  in  the 
mastery  of  the  iron  industry. 

The  iron-working  industry  began  in  Birming- 
ham on  a  pretentious  scale  in  1883,  when  the  first 
rolling  mill  was  built,  going  up  near  the  Alice 
furnace.  The  enterprise  was  known  as  the  Birm- 
ingham Rolling  Mills,  and  it  played  a  highly 
important  part  in  the  life  of  the  community.  For 
a  number  of  years  the  prosperity  of  the  city  could 
be  accurately  gauged  by  the  operations  of  this 
plant.  When  it  was  going  full  blast,  turning  out 
its  maximum  capacity  of  bars,  rods  and  sheet  iron, 
prosperity  reigned.  When  it  shut  down,  a  pall  of 
gloom  overspread  the  city  and  merchants  began 
to  cancel  orders.  However,  with  the  introduction 
of  the  steel-producing  era,  and  the  erection  of  the 
vast  chain  of  enterprises  growing  out  of  this  de- 
velopment, the  old  mill  became  obsolete  and  finally 
passed  out  of  existence.  Meanwhile  the  city  had 
grown  prodigiously,  and  the  passing  of  the  one- 
time industrial  barometer  attracted  little  atten- 
tion. 

Employing  a  large  number  of  men  when  active, 
this  mill  became  surrounded  by  quite  a  large  popu- 

[  177] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

lation  for  that  period,  and  the  '*  Rolling  Mill  Dis- 
trict'' was  a  big  factor  in  politics.  The  favorite 
argument  used  by  the  candidates  who  sought  to 
swing  the  vote  was  the  kind  that  came  in  kegs  and 
was  delivered  through  a  spigot,  with  pretzel  ac- 
companiments. The  position  of  the  aspirant  upon 
the  tariff  or  good  roads  interested  the  majority 
of  those  lads  no  whit.  Their  thirst  was  not  so 
much  for  knowledge  as  for  something  with  a  kick. 
Several  years  after  the  launching  of  this  mill  a 
second  enterprise  of  like  character  was  established 
at  Gate  City  not  far  from  the  site  of  the  old  Iron- 
dale  furnace.  It,  too,  had  its  day,  but  finally  went 
the  way  of  the  older  enterprises,  dropping  out 
because  it  could  not  keep  pace  with  the  quickened 
industrial  life  of  the  district. 


[  178] 


CHAPTER  XIII 


POPULARIZING  THE  WATER  WAGON 


WHEN  Birmingliam  first  tried  tlie 
water  wagon  as  a  cure  for  that  morn- 
ing-after sensation,  it  was  only  upon 
the  stern  insistence  of  the  voters  outside  the  city- 
precincts.  Birmingham  voted  negatively,  but  the 
majority  in  rural  Jefferson  was  sufficient  to  over- 
come the  urban  vote,  and  the  saloons  went  out 
amid  a  pall  of  gloom.  The  liquor  forces,  who  long 
had  played  a  leading,  if  not  a  dominant  part  in 
the  political  life  of  the  city,  were  stunned  — but 
not  speechless.  Their  predictions  of  disaster  were 
fervid  and  sincere.  They  could  not  conceive  of  an 
industrial  community  surviving  a  prolonged 
drouth,  and  when  they  closed  the  swinging  doors 
it  was  as  though  they  were  closing  the  doors  of 
the  city  itself. 

[  179  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

In  the  light  of  what  has  happened  since  that 
first  campaign  in  1907,  it  is  amusing  to  recall 
some  of  the  predictions  uttered  by  men  of  prom- 
inence' in  the  business  life  of  the  eommunity. 
According  to  these  predictions,  bats  would  inhabit 
the  sky-scrapers  and  grass  would  grow  in  the 
streets.  And  when  these  forecasts  were  made, 
those  essaying  the  part  of  a  prophet  were  certain 
that  the  bottom  was  going  to  drop  out.  They  be- 
lieved that  the  workingman  had  to  have  his  alco- 
holic stimulant,  and  were  confident  that  the  labor- 
ing man  would  avoid  this  city.  Not  only  so,  but 
they  were  convinced  that  the  place  would  be 
killed  as  a  trading  center,  for,  they  argued,  ^' Who 
will  come  to  a  dry  town  to  buy  goods  when  they 
could  go  to  another  market  and  get  something  to 
drink  while  supplying  their  other  needs?" 

Another  prediction  was  that  the  city  would  be- 
come bankrupt  through  loss  of  revenue  following 
the  passing  of  the  saloons  and  the  decreased  tax 
receipts  which  would  a;ttend  the  wholesale  depre- 
ciation of  property  value.  The  specter  of  many 
empty  stores  added  to  the  feeling  of  depression 
and  the  community  braced  itself  for  an  era  of 
hard  times. 

At  that  period  neither  state  nor  national  pro- 
hibition seemed  within  the  range  of  probability, 
and  with  **wet"  cities  located  in  all  directions  it 

[  180  ] 


POPULARIZING  THE  WATER  WAGON 

was  thought  tha/t  Birmingham  would  become  a 
sort  of  a  plague  spot  to  be  avoided  by  the  travel- 
ing public  as  well  as  the  laboring  man.  What  hap- 
pened was  this : 

Merchants  found  that  the  men  who  had  been 
spending  a  large  part  of  their  income  for  drink 
began  to  buy  more  shoes,  more  clothing  and  more 
food  for  their  families,  and  in  a  little  while  all  the 
vacant  stores  were  occupied  by  new  firms,  or  by 
old  ones  that  found  it  necessary  to  enlarge  their 
business.  Instead  of  empty  buildings  there  arose 
an  almost  unprecedented  demand  for  store  and 
office  space,  and  an  era  of  building  activity  such 
as  the  city  rarely  had  witnessed  was  introduced. 
Moreover,  the  laboring  man  did  not  resign  his  job 
and  rush  off  to  a  wet  town,  nor  did  the  city  be- 
come bankrupt  through  loss  of  the  saloon  license. 

It  is  a  remarkable  commentary  upon  these  early 
experiences  under  prohibition  that  the  loss  of  rev- 
enue occasioned  by  the  passing  of  the  saloon 
largely  was  made  up  through  the  reduotion  in  ex- 
penditures for  maintaining  peace  and  order.  The 
police  force  was  cut  practically  in  half  and  was 
capable  fully  to  cope  with  the  new  conditions. 

As  shown  elsewhere,  Birmingham  had  been  a 
city  noted  for  the  frequency  with  which  arguments 
were  settled  by  the  revolver,  and  it  is  a  matter  of 
record  that  the  great  majority  of  these  shooting 

[  181  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

affrays  occurred  in  saloons.  In  fact,  several 
saloons  were  notorious  for  the  number  of  men  who 
had  been  killed  within  their  portals,  and  were 
pointed  out  to  strangers  as  the  places  in  which 
this  or  that  tragedy  occurred. 

In  recalling  these  days  when  the  wicked  crack  of 
the  revolver  was  a  common  sound  and  generally 
was  the  signal  of  a  funeral,  it  is  astonishing  to 
note  the  fateful  order  in  which  tragedy  followed 
tragedy.  There  was  the  case  of  a  fine  young 
fellow  (when  sober),  who  stepped  into  a  saloon 
one  night  while  in  a  state  of  intoxication  and 
opened  fire  at  random,  killing  a  man  he  had  never 
before  seen  and  against  whom  he  could  have  no 
grudge.  Shortly  thereafter  the  father  of  this 
young  man,  a  prominent  lawyer,  stepped  to  the 
cigar  counter  in  the  forward  part  of  a  saloon  and 
was  shot  to  death  by  some  one  who  was  displaying 
the  exuberance  of  his  feelings  by  firing  a  revolver. 
A  little  later  the  son,  who  had  killed  a  man  much 
as  his  father  was  killed,  was  shot  to  death  in  a  duel 
in  which  his  antagonist  also  was  killed,  drink  being 
at  the  bottom  of  it. 

Then  there  was  the  case  of  a  young  man,  the  son 
of  one  of  the  pioneer  citizens,  who  had  more 
notches  on  his  gun  than  I  can  now  recall.  He  held 
the  record,  I  believe,  for  the  biggest  ^^bag"  in  a 
single  night,  shooting  three  men  in  a  saloon  row. 

[  182  ] 


POPULARIZING  THE  WATER  WAGON 

Quiet  and  orderly  when  sober,  his  hand  instinc- 
tively soug^ht  the  hip-pocket  when  the  liquor  began 
to  work.  But  one  evening  he  drew  his  weapon  on 
a  man  who  was  just  as  skillful  with  the  revolver, 
and  after  a  few  sharp  reports  and  sudden  flashes 
both  men  were  dead. 

Often  it  happened  so,  the  man  who  drew  the 
revolver  on  one  occasion  falling  victim  to  some 
other  individual  who  happened  to  be  quick  on  the 
trigger  and  perhaps  not  quite  so  much  under  the 
influence  of  the  stuff  that  makes  men  see  red  some- 
times, and  then  again  makes  them  see  double. 

The  wanton  folly  of  many  of  these  shooting 
scrapes  was  shocking  then  and  is  more  shocking  in 
the  perspective.  Men  killed  because  they  were 
drunk  and  not  because  they  had  a  grievance. 
Friends  normally,  two  men  would  get  into  an  argu- 
ment over  some  trivial  matter  and  begin  to  shoot. 
If  either  survived,  it  was  to  regret  throughout  the 
remainder  of  life.  If  neither  survived,  as  hap- 
pened in  a  number  of  cases,  it  was  for  widows  and 
orphans  to  regret. 

Several  years  ago,  while  riding  .upon  a  train  in 
a  neighboring  state,  I  happened  to  say  something 
about  Birmingham  and  a  gentleman  in  the  oppo- 
site seat  remarked,  *'By  Jove,  I  came  near  being 
murdered  in  that  town  once.''  Thereupon  he  told 
this  story,  which  further  illustrates  how  the  saloon 

[183  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

influenced  the  social  order  in  Birmingliam  during 
those  wild  days : 

**I  was  a  stranger  in  Birmingham  and  was  stop- 
ping for  the  day  at  a  hotel  where  the  bar  opened 
upon  the  lobby.  I  walked  up  to  the  counter  to  ask 
the  clerk  something  when  a  man  I  had  never  before 
seen  leaped  upon  me  and  began  to  slash  me  with 
a  knife.  He  acted  like  a  mad-man,  cutting  furi- 
ously, and  had  slashed  me  all  over  the  body  before 
I  managed  to  draw  my  revolver  and  shoot  him. 
The  only  thing  that  saved  me  was  my  overcoat. 
I  was  laid  up  in  a  hospital  for  a  long  time,  as  was 
my  assailant.  I  had  no  idea  why  I  had  been  at- 
tacked, and  speculated  upon  the  matter  no  little. 
Later  I  learned  that  the  fellow  didn't  even  know 
me,  and  had  assailed  me  for  no  other  reason  than 
that  he  was  crazy  with  drink.'' 

It  was  thus  that  the  saloon  wrote  its  crimson 
record  in  the  life  of  Birmingham,  and  it  was  be- 
cause of  these  things  that  the  sober  and  thought- 
ful citizens  of  the  community  decided  that  it  had 
^^ sinned  away  its  day  of  grace,"  to  quote  the  lan- 
guage of  Senator  Carmack,  the  brilliant  Tennes- 
sean,  who  was  shot  to  death  while  fighting  the 
liquor  traffic  in  his  own  state. 

While  the  vote  of  citizens  in  the  county  outside 
of  Birmingham  was  necessary  to  abolish  the 
saloon,  it  was  the  women  and  the  ministers  of  this 
[  184  ] 


POPULARIZING  THE  WATER  WAGON 

city  wha  primarily  were  responsible  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  campaign.  Their  appeals  to  the  bal- 
ance of  the  county  turned  the  tide  and  accom- 
plished the  result. 

During  this  heated  and  spectacular  cam- 
paign it  is  said  that  a  party  of  ^Svorkers," 
representing  the  *^wet''  side  of  the  argument, 
were  assigned  to  cover  the  northern  part  of  the 
county.  They  went  forth  with  literature,  cigars 
and  liquid  refreshments  and  presented  their  cause 
to  all  who  would  listen.  About  noon  one  day  they 
came  upon  a  crowd  of  people  who  were  attending 
some  sort  of  a  benefit  dinner  out  in  the  woods,  the 
dinner  being  fifty  cents  a  plate.  Here,  thought  the 
campaigners,  was  a  golden  opportunity.  They 
stirred  around  among  the  voters  and  soon  had  a 
large  crowd  of  men  eating  at  their  expense.  When 
the  feast  had  been  disposed  of  and  the  bills  had 
been  paid,  the  workers  suggested  to  the  gentlemen 
who  had  partaken  of  their  hospitality  that  they 
would  appreciate  their  co-operation  in  the  fight 
against  prohibition. 

*'Well,'*  drawled  the  self-constituted  spokesman 
of  the  crowd,  ^^we'd  be  glad  to  help  you,  but  seein' 
as  we  live  in  Blount  County,  we  ain't  got  no  right 
to  vote  in  Jefferson's  election.'* 

In  their  enthusiasm,  the  campaigners  had  gone 
over  the  county  line. 

[  185  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

The  introduction  of  prohibition  in  Birmingham 
and  the  remarkable  transformation  it  wrought  in 
this  community,  had  an  electrical  effect  upon  the 
State.  The  cry  arose,  ^^Make  Alabama  dry,''  and 
soon  the  entire  State  was  engulfed.  But  success  in 
this,  as  in  many  other  undertakings,  caused  an- 
other form  of  intoxication.  The  prohibition  forces, 
drunk  with  the  unexpected  advances,  attempted  to 
write  prohibition  into  the  constitution  of  the  State, 
and  thereby  dug  for  themselves  a  pit  from  which 
it  took  several  years  to  climb.  Before  the  amend- 
ment election  could  be  held,  a  reaction  had  set  in, 
and  the  measure  went  down  in  defeat. 

The  defeat  of  the  prohibition  amendment  had 
the  effect  of  cheering  the  liquor  forces  mightily, 
and  they  immediately  opened  a  vigorous  campaign 
for  the  control  of  the  State.  Torn  by  the  dissen- 
tions  which  had  arisen  over  the  amendment  propo- 
sition, the  *  ^  dry ' '  element  failed  to  present  a  united 
front,  and  the  State  w^ent  back  into  the  **wet'' 
column.  But  the  victory  was  short-lived.  On  the 
next  turn-over  the  prohibitionists  won,  and  Ala- 
bama then  was  placed  permanently  on  the  arid 
list.  The  long  mirrors,  the  foot-rails  and  the 
swinging  doors  passed  from  the  State  to  return 
no  more. 

Meanwhile  the  agitation  for  national  prohibition 
had  grown,  culminating  a  few  years  later  in  the 

[  186  ] 


HOMES    ON    THE    MOUNTAINSIDE 


POPULARIZING  THE  WATER  WAGON 

submission  of  the  constitutional  amendment  out- 
lawing the  traffic  in  this  country. 

That  the  experience  of  Birmingham  under  pro- 
hibition had  a  marked  effect  in  bringing  about  the 
ratification  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment,  un- 
doubtedly is  true.  As  that  fight  raged  inquiries 
poured  into  this  city  from  all  parts  of  the  country, 
and  frequently  visitors  came  to  see  for  themselves 
how  a  large  industrial  community  managed  to  get 
along  without  suds  and  s\vinging  doors.  And 
what  these  inquirers  found  furnished  little  en- 
couragement to  the  **wet''  forces,  for  this  city 
thrived  amazingly  under  arid  conditions.  Here, 
too,  was  found  a  visible  and  really  remarkable 
illustration  of  the  effect  of  sobriety  —  a  huge  and 
imposing  building  that  had  been  transformed  from 
a  prison  into  a  parental  school. 

This  jail,  erected  during  the  days  of  the  saloon, 
was  designed  to  care  for  three  hundred  prisoners. 
Built  of  steel  and  concrete,  and  looking  not  unlike 
an  ancient  castle,  this  building  was  designed  for 
permanency.  No  one  dreamed  that  the  number  of 
prisoners  ever  could  become  so  reduced  that  it 
would  not  be  needed.  Yet  this  happened.  Arrests 
fell  off  so  rapidly  following  the  abolishment  of 
the  saloon,  that  the  old  jail,  w^hich  had  become 
entirely  too  small  while  liquor  flowed,  was  ample 
under  the  changed  conditions.     So  the  fine  new 

[  187  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

jail  was  closed,  and  it  remained  closed  for  many 
months.  Then  the  need  arose  for  a  school  to  which 
unruly  children  might  be  sent,  and  the  structure 
was  turned  over  to  the  Board  of  Education. 

Pictures  of  this  jail,  and  the  story  of  its  re- 
markable transition,  under  the  operations  of  pro- 
hibition, were  used  in  newspapers  and  magazines 
in  many  parts  of  the  country,  even  appearing 
in  some  Old  World  publications  as  Pussy-foot 
Johnson  proclaimed  the  dry  doctrine  to  the 
Britishers. 

The  reduction  in  crime  and  in  poverty,  and  the 
increase  in  business  and  in  general  efficiency, 
which  attended  the  final  passing  of  the  saloon, 
were  so  marked  that  even  the  most  rabid  partisans 
came  to  concede  the  beneficial  effects.  The  ma- 
jority of  citizens  in  this  community  had  become 
thoroughly  reconciled  to  their  ration  of  water  or 
*^soff  drinks  long  before  the  Nation  decided  that 
it  could  get  along  without  that  morning-after 
feeling. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  prohibition.  City,  State 
or  National,  did  not  stop  the  sale  and  consumption 
of  liquors  in  their  entirety.  The  boot-leggers  and 
the  moonshiners  appeared  on  the  scene  when  the 
saloon  went,  and  they  continue  to  ply  a  hazardous 
trade,  but  the  amount  of  liquor  consumed  is  in- 
finitesimal compared  with  the  quantity  used  in 

[  188  ] 


POPULARIZING  THE  WATER  WAGON 

the  old  days.  One  may  observe  the  crowds  that 
throng  the  streets  day  after  day,  and  only  once 
in  a  long,  long  time  will  he  see  a  person  whose 
feet  have  lost  the  sense  of  direction.  This  is  due 
to  several  causes,  chief  among  them  being  the 
fact  that  the  great  majority  of  men  who  once 
drank  openly  in  saloons,  and  sometimes  to  excess, 
have  found  that  they  are  better  off  without  it,  or 
will  not  take  the  trouble  to  hunt  out  blind-tiger 
liquor.  Then  those  who  want  it  and  are  willing 
to  go  to  some  trouble  to  get  it,  are  afraid  of  the 
stuff  handed  them  in  exchange  for  their  money. 
Wood  alcohol  has  gotten  in  its  deadly  work  here 
as  elsewhere,  and  the  result  has  been  to  inspire  a 
wholesome  dread  of  liquors  the  genesis  of  which 
is  in  doubt.  Here  the  man  who  complained  bit- 
terly about  being  the  victim  of  an  accident  and, 
upon  being  asked  for  particulars,  said  **A  friend 
asked  me  to  have  a  drink  and  I  didn't  hear  him," 
might  well  be  congratulated,  for  one  never  knows 
what  he  is  getting.  It  may  be  something  with  a 
**kick,"  and  then  again  it  may  be  something  with 
slow  music  and  flowers. 

After  voting  against  prohibition  in  the  first 
campaign,  Birmingham  voted  in  favor  of  it  when 
the  final  overthrow  came,  thus  giving  concrete 
evidence  of  its  changed  opinion  about  the  value 
of  the  saloon,  as  a  community  builder. 

[  189  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

Another  striking  illustration  of  the  changed 
sentiment  of  the  city  upon  issues  having  a  moral 
or  religious  significance,  is  found  in  the  attitude 
of  the  people  toward  Sunday  observance.  This 
city  once  had  open  theatres  on  Sunday,  but  these 
places  of  amusement  were  closed  by  a  vote  of  the 
people.  And  a  rather  remarkable  thing  developed 
in  this  election.  The  exponents  of  the  Sunday 
theatre  insisted  that  the  workingman  should  have 
an  opportunity  to  find  amusement  on  his  day  of 
rest.  It  w^as  argued  that  the  rich  man  had  his 
golf,  or  his  automobile,  with  which  to  enjoy  recre- 
ation, but  that  the  workingman  had  no  such 
avenues  of  entertainment,  and  should  be  allowed 
to  enjoy  a  show  with  his  family.  When  the  re- 
turns were  in  it  developed  that  the  boxes  where 
the  labor  vote  was  strongest  gave  the  heaviest 
majorities  against  the  opening  of  theatres  on 
Sunday. 

Sunday  baseball  also  is  banned  in  Birmingham, 
so  far  as  professional  contests  go,  yet  it  is  the 
best  baseball  town  in  the  Southern  League.  Year 
after  year,  Birmingham  leads  the  South  in  point 
of  attendance,  a  condition  w^hich  is  eminently  satis- 
factory to  the  management,  and  which  must  suit 
the  *^ fans''  because  there  has  been  no  outspoken 
demand  for  Sunday  ball.  The  average  man  fig- 
ures that  he  can  get  off  for  an  afternoon  during 

[  190  ] 


POPULARIZING  THE  WATER  WAGON 

the  week  and  reserve  Ms  Sunday  for  something 
else,  whereas  with  Sunday  ball  he  might  not  be 
able  to  get  that  afternoon  off. 

This  sentiment  for  prohibition,  for  law  enforce- 
ment and  for  Sabbath  observance,  is  not  an  ac- 
cidental growth,  but  is  the  by-product  of  zealous 
effort  on  the  part  of  that  element  which  is  re- 
sponsible for  Birmingham's  record-breaking  Sun- 
day School  classes,  for  its  strong  laymen's  asso- 
ciations, and  for  its  exceptionally  large  church 
attendance.  In  brief,  it  all  harks  back  to  the 
preachers.  They  have,  by  united  effort,  succeeded 
in  making  the  church  as  powerful  as  the  saloon 
used  to  be. 

The  term  ** united  effort"  is  used  advisedly, 
because  the  preaching  fraternity  has  a  union  all 
its  own,  and  when  this  organization  gets  behind 
a  movement  of  any  kind,  the  chances  are  that  it 
will  triumph. 

One  of  the  dominant  figures  in  the  pastors' 
union  is  Dr.  George  R.  Stuart,  who  for  years 
united  with  that  famous  and  spectacular  evangelist, 
Sam  Jones,  in  flaying  the  devil  from  one  end  of 
the  country  to  the  other.  Pastor  of  the  largest 
church  in  the  city,  and  speaking  at  every  service 
to  a  crowd  that  taxes  the  capacity  of  the  house. 
Dr.  Stuart  makes  a  dent  in  any  situation  he  at- 
tacks, and  when  the  same  cause  he  is  espousing  is 

[  191  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

being  espoused  from  a  hundred  other  pulpits, 
something  always  happens. 

Another  preacher,  not  so  picturesque  as  Dr. 
Stuart,  but  an  organizer  of  exceptional  abihty,  is 
Dr.  J.  M.  Broady,  pastor  of  the  one  great  Presby- 
terian church  in  Birmingham  that  is  ** Northern^' 
instead  of  *^ Southern."  An  athlete,  an  accom- 
plished horseman,  and  a  fighter  from  the  cow 
country  of  the  West,  he,  too,  is  a  power  when  it 
comes  to  a  campaign  for  the  things  the  church 
stands  for.  And  there  are  others,  plenty  of  them, 
who  do  not  hesitate  to  jump  into  a  fight,  when  to 
jump  seems  the  proper  thing. 

These  preachers,  with  melancholy  memories  of 
things  as  they  used  to  be,  and  of  the  long  and  bit- 
ter campaigns  through  which  they  went  in  order 
to  bring  about  improved  conditions,  are  fixed  in 
their  purpose  not  to  permit  any  backsliding.  As 
a  consequence,  the  so-called  wide-open  element  is 
ever  chary  about  attempting  to  put  anything 
over. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  reasons  why  Birmingham 
citizens  are  so  strong  in  their  support  of  the 
preachers,  is  because  they  will  not  have  any  but 
the  best  pulpit  material.  Competition  between  the 
big  churches  is  as  strong  as  that  existing  between 
rival  business  houses,  and  all  of  them  insist  upon 
having  the  biggest  men  available.  The  Methodists, 

[192  ] 


POPULARIZING  THE  WATER  WAGON 

the  Baptists  and  the  Presbyterians  represent  the 
churches  which  lead  in  membership,  and  the 
achievement  of  one  is  a  constant  challenge  to  the 
others.  The  rivalry  is  friendly  but  real,  and  the 
co-operation  is  perfect. 

A  rather  striking  illustration  of  the  popular 
attitude  toward  the  preacher,  was  given  less  than 
a  year  ago,  when  a  loving  cup  was  offered  to  the 
person  rendering  the  most  distinguished  service  to 
the  community  during  the  preceding  twelve 
months.  The  award  was  made  by  a  committee 
representing  all  the  civic  organizations  of  the  city, 
and  the  cup  went  to  a  Presbyterian  preacher.  Rev. 
J.  A.  Bryan,  by  a  unanimous  vote.  Many  citizens 
who  had  achieved  large  things  along  material 
lines  were  put  in  nomination,  but  the  overwhelm- 
ing sentiment  throughout  the  community  was  in 
favor  of  giving  it  to  this  humble  pastor  of  one 
of  the  smaller  churches.  Thousands  of  people  at- 
tended the  presentation  ceremonies,  and  no  man 
ever  received  a  greater  ovation  than  was  given 
this  lank  and  lovable  minister. 

Rev.  Bryan  is  a  unique  figure  in  the  religious 
life  of  the  city.  He  has  lived  here,  serving  the 
one  church  for  more  than  thirty-five  years,  and 
about  the  first  thing  a  grief-stricken  family  thinks 
of  doing  is  sending  for  ** Brother  Bryan,"  this 
regardless   of  denominational  affiliations.     It  is 

[  193  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

doubtful  if  any  man  living  has  conducted  more 
funerals  or  brought  solace  to  more  men  and  women 
and  children  in  their  hours  of  grief. 

Until  his  death  a  dozen  years  ago,  Birmingham 
had  in  Dr.  Luman  S.  Handley,  another  minister 
who  filled  a  similar  place  in  the  life  of  the  com- 
munity. An  ex-Confederate  soldier,  Dr.  Handley 
came  here  when  the  town  was  little  more  than  a 
mud  hole,  and  he  literally  loved  his  way  into  the 
hearts  of  the  people  through  nearly  forty  years 
of  service.  More  than  any  one  else,  he  kindled 
the  fires  of  fraternalism  between  denominations, 
and  made  possible  the  fine  spirit  of  friendship 
and  esteem  which  exists  between  these  denomina- 
tions today.  When  his  congregation  was  without  a 
church  home  at  one  time,  the  leading  Jewish  con- 
gregation of  the  city  tendered  him  the  use  of  their 
synagogue,  and  for  over  a  year  Christ  was 
preached  in  this  temple.  Later,  when  the  thirty- 
fifth  anniversary  of  Dr.  Handley 's  pastorate  was 
celebrated,  he  was  presented  with  a  beautiful  lov- 
ing cup  by  the  members  of  this  Synagogue,  the 
Temple  Emanu-el. 

That  this  fine  spirit  existed  between  other  con- 
gregations was  shown  when  this  same  body  of 
Jewish  churchmen  were  temporarily  without  a 
place  of  worship,  pending  the  completion  of  a 
new  temple.  Baptists,  Presbyterians  and  others 
I  194  ] 


POPULARIZING  THE  WATER  WAGON 

offered  the  use  of  their  churches,  and  one  of  these 
tenders  was  accepted. 

When  Dr.  Handley  was  presented  with  the  lov- 
ing cup,  he  told  a  number  of  stories  about  the 
early  days  of  Birmingham,  one  of  which  concerned 
the  marriage  of  a  young  foreigner.  *^  After  the 
ceremony,"  said  Dr.  Handley,  *^the  young  fellow 
called  me  to  one  side,  and,  slipping  a  silver  dol- 
lar in  my  hand,  whispered,  ^This  is  all  I  can  afford 
now.  Doctor,  but  I  will  try  to  do  better  next 
time!'" 

Full  of  the  grace  of  God,  this  good  man  died, 
his  memory  being  perpetuated  by  the  Handley 
Memorial  Presbyterian  Church. 

Today  one  of  the  oldest  ministers,  in  point  of 
service,  is  Rabbi  Morris  Newfield,  of  Temple 
Emanu-el,  whose  learning  was  recognized  by  the 
Baptists  in  his  election  to  the  faculty  of  their 
college  in  this  city. 

Another  outstanding  figure  is  '^Parson"  Barn- 
well, Rector  of  the  Church  of  the  Advent,  the  lead- 
ing Episcopal  Church  of  the  city,  and  the  one 
formerly  served  by  Dr.  Murray,  now  Bishop  of 
Maryland.  A  brilliant  speaker  and  a  great 
*^ mixer,"  Dr.  Barnwell  has  a  strong  hold  upon 
the  young  men  of  the  city.  A  similar  position  is 
occupied  by  Dr.  Henry  M.  Edmonds,  pastor  of  the 
Independent  Presbyterian  Church,  and  one  of  the 

[  195  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

best  known  pulpit  orators  in  the  South.  Dr.  John 
A.  MacSporran,  pastor  of  the  First  Pre&byterian 
Church,  is  another  *' young  man's  man,''  and  Dr. 
James  E.  Dillard,  of  the  Southside  Baptist  Church, 
may  be  placed  in  the  same  category.  A  young 
man's  town,  Birmingham,  in  selecting  ministers, 
calls  for  men  \vho  can  meet  the  spirit  of  youth 
upon  familiar  terms. 


[196] 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  SWAY  OF  KING  COTTON 


AS  gold  suggests  to  the  Californian  the 
tragedy  and  romance  of  other  days,  so 
cotton  stirs  the  imagination  of  the 
Southerner,  and  conjures  up  pictures  of  vanished 
years ;  pictures  of  big  white  houses,  adorned  with 
stately  columns,  and  surrounded  by  far-reaching 
fields  of  white ;  of  low-roofed  cabins,  where  dark- 
hued  children  play,  and  where,  when  the  moon 
rides  high,  the  plaintive  voice  of  the  negro  is 
heard,  keeping  time  to  the  banjo  or  guitar;  pic- 
tures of  river  boats,  their  decks  piled  high  with 
bales  and  their  smoke-stacks  belching  fire  as  they 
race  for  New  Orleans ;  pictures  of  fleet  and  shin- 
ing horses  thundering  down  the  final  stretch; 
pictures  of  ancient  triumphs,  and  pictures  of 
vanished  glories.    And,  thinking  of  these  things, 

[  1^7  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

the  old-time  Southerner  knows  what  was  in  the 
heart  of  the  poet  when  he  said : 

''Tears,  idle  tears,  I  know  not  what  they  mean. 
Tears  from  the  depth  of  some  divine  despair 
Eise  in  the  heart,  and  gather  to  the  eyes, 
In  looking  on  the  happy  Autumn-fields, 
And  thinking  of  the  days  that  are  no  more." 

For  generations  cotton  was  the  main-stay  of 
the  South,  and  today  it  constitutes  the  greatest 
single  item  in  its  economic  life.    Crop  diversifica- 
tion has  come,  manufacturing  interests  have  at- 
tained huge  proportions,  and  the  development  of 
mineral  resources  has  brought  wealth  beyond  any- 
thing dreamed  of  in  the  olden  days,  but  cotton 
continues  to  be  a  mighty  factor  in  the  lives  of  the 
people,  and  time  will  not  change  this  condition. 
Nor  is  it  surprising  that  this  should  be  so,  for 
cotton  is  not  only  one  of  the  most  w^onderful  prod- 
ucts of  nature,  but  it  is  well-nigh  indispensable. 
It  played  a  part  in  the  lives  of  old-world  peoples 
before  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  from  century  to 
century  furnished  the  attire  of  multitudes.    Her- 
odotus referred  to  its  growth  in  India,  Phny  spoke 
of  it  as  an  Egyptian  product,  Cortez  was  presented 
with  gifts  of  cotton  fabric  in  Mexico  four  hundred 
years  ago,  and  Columbus  found  it  growing  wild 
when  he  discovered  America.    So,  an  ancient  and 
honorable  plant,  it  has  its  place  both  in  the  his- 

[  198  ] 


THE   SWAY   OF   KING   COTTON 

tory  of  past  years  and  the  every-day  life  of  the 
present. 

While  little  of  this  staple  is  produced  in  the 
rugged  hills  about  Birmingham  where  are  de- 
posited the  minerals  upon  which  the  wealth  of 
this  city  is  based,  cotton  is  an  important  factor  in 
the  industrial  life  of  the  community.  In  Birming- 
ham it  is  the  basis  of  an  industry  that  extends  to 
every  spot  on  the  globe  where  sunshine  and  soil 
tempt  the  blossom  into  bloom. 

Birmingham  is  the  home  of  the  greatest  cotton 
gin  manufacturing  enterprise  in  the  world,  and 
from  these  factories  cotton  working  machinery 
goes  to  South  and  Central  America,  to  Africa,  to 
Eussia,  to  Turkey  and  Persia,  to  China  and  the 
Philippines,  and  wherever  else  the  snowy  staple 
rears  its  head. 

What  the  development  of  the  perfecting  press 
and  the  typesetting  machine  were  to  the  printing 
profession,  the  development  of  the  gin  was  to  the 
cotton  industry.  Until  that  shrewd  Yankee,  Eli 
Whitney,  visited  Georgia  in  1792  and  there  re- 
ceived the  inspiration  which  led  to  the  invention 
of  the  gin,  the  separation  of  short  lint  cotton  from 
the  seed  was  a  slow  and  tedious  process,  per- 
formed by  hand.  Without  slave  labor,  the  cost 
would  have  been  prohibitive,  and  even  with  this 
labor,  the  time  consumed  was  so  great  that  pro- 
[199  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

duction  was  held  to  an  abnormally  low  figure. 
Whitney's  gin,  the  patent  for  which  was  issued 
in  1794  and  was  signed  by  George  Washington, 
gave  a  tremendous  impetus  to  the  growth  of  cot- 
ton, and  as  improvements  were  introduced,  the 
production  grew  until  the  number  of  bales  were 
counted  in  millions  instead  of  in  thousands. 

Whitney  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  it 
is  a  rather  remarkable  fact  that  he  and  another 
New  Englander,  Daniel  Pratt,  should  have  played 
so  large  a  part  in  the  development  of  a  Southern 
industry.  The  latter,  a  native  of  New  Hampshire, 
came  to  Alabama  in  1832,  and  several  years  later 
began  the  manufacture  of  gins  in  a  little  plant 
which  he  built  upon  a  creek  where  Prattville 
stands  today.  The  Pratt  gin  embodied  many  im- 
provements, and  when  the  plant  was  taken  over 
by  the  Continental  Gin  Company  of  Birmingham, 
it  was  the  largest  producer  in  the  United  States. 

Birmingham's  connection  with  the  industry  be- 
gan late,  but  because  of  revolutionary  inventions 
put  into  operation  here,  this  soon  became  the 
center  of  activities,  the  Birmingham  concern  ab- 
sorbing existing  establishments  in  many  parts  of 
the  country.  This  rise  of  leadership  in  the  manu- 
facturing of  gins  began  with  the  invention  in 
Texas  of  a  pneumatic  cotton  elevator,  the  designer 
being  R.  S.  Munger.    By  means  of  this  invention 

[  200  ] 


THE   SWAY  OF   KING   COTTON 

the  cotton  was  taken  direct  from  the  wagon  to 
the  gin  and  upon  passing  through  the  gin  (being 
thoroughly  cleaned  in  the  process),  was  carried 
direct  to  the  press.  This  method  saved  an  infinite 
amount  of  labor  and  time,  and  in  a  few  years 
those  who  controlled  the  invention  controlled  the 
cotton  gin  industry  to  a  very  large  extent.  Be- 
cause of  the  proximity  of  the  raw  material  for 
manufacturing  the  gins,  the  industry  was  brought 
to  Birmingham,  where  it  grew  with  prodigious 
rapidity.  Whitney  and  Pratt,  the  New  England- 
ers,  made  gins  that  were  effective  in  separating 
the  lint  from  the  seed.  Munger,  the  Southerner, 
made  a  gin  that  sucked  the  seed  cotton  from  the 
wagon  and  delivered  a  bale  of  cotton  pressed, 
cleaned  and  wrapped,  all  the  labor  once  performed 
by  hand  being  performed  by  the  machine,  and  at 
an  almost  inconceivable  speed. 

Cotton  constitutes  a  really  wonderful  plant,  and 
because  it  is  one  of  the  cheapest  products  on 
earth,  the  variety  of  uses  to  which  it  is  put  is 
multiplying  rapidly.  The  blossoms,  stretching  for 
miles  upon  the  big  plantations,  furnish  the  bee 
with  the  nector  from  which  is  produced  the  most 
delicious  honey  known  to  the  breakfast  table.  The 
fiber  enters  into  the  making  of  millions  of  yards  of 
undisguised  cotton  goods,  and  is  the  chief  element 
in  other  millions  of  yards  of  lustrous  goods,  beau- 

[201  ] 


THE  BOOK  OP  BIRMINGHAM 

tifully  disguised  as  silk.  Its  uses  in  the  industrial 
field  range  all  the  way  from  the  making  of  car 
wheels  to  the  production  of  high  explosives. 

For  many  years  the  seed  of  the  cotton  seemed 
worthless  except  for  purposes  of  reproduction, 
and  if  the  value  of  the  seed  thrown  away  could  be 
recovered  today  it  would  pay  the  national  debt. 
This  dark  and  fuzzy  little  seed  furnishes  meal 
for  livestock  and  bread  for  man.  Its  oil  fits  in 
beautifully  for  all  the  purposes  to  Avhich  olive  oil 
is  adapted,  and  in  many  instances  olive  oil  has 
been  pushed  aside  by  this  new  and  wonderful  by- 
product. It  is  used  for  salad  dressing  and  enters 
into  the  making  of  the  most  delectable  cakes  and 
pies.  The  cotton  seed  produces  butter  that  claims 
no  kinship  with  the  cow  and  lard  that  is  not  re- 
motely related  to  the  hog.  Not  only  so,  but  it 
invades  other  fields  than  that  of  food  supply,  and 
appears  in  the  form  of  soap  and  paint  and  grease. 

The  branch  of  the  cotton  industry  opened 
through  the  discovery  that  the  seed  contained 
many  wonderful  properties,  though  comparatively 
new,  has  attained  enormous  proportions.  More- 
over, new  refinements  are  being  discovered  con- 
stantly, and  today  the  lowly  cotton  seed  has  won 
a  measure  of  esteem  quite  equal  to  that  accorded 
the  fiber  itself. 

While  cotton  constitutes  one  of  the  world's 
[  202  ] 


THE   SWAY    OF   KING   COTTON 

greatest  necessities,  and  fulfills  many  imperative 
needs,  its  production  is  perhaps  the  biggest  gam- 
ble in  the  agricultural  game.  The  grower  must 
fight  the  boll  weevil  and  the  grass  during  the 
months  that  the  crop  is  maturing,  and,  if  he  is 
fortunate  enough  to  get  a  good  crop  to  market, 
he  then  must  stand  off  and  watch  the  bulls  and 
bears  fight  over  the  price  he  is  to  receive.  The 
variations  in  price  are  astonishing,  and  fill  the 
heart  of  the  producer  with  alternate  hope  and 
despair.  During  the  war  cotton  sold  for  over 
forty  cents  a  pound.  Today  it  is  around  ten  cents 
a  pound,  and  many  growers  and  dealers  in  the 
South  have  war-time  cotton  on  their  hands,  upon 
which  they  borrowed  more  than  the  staple  will 
bring  at  this  time.  It  has  been  estimated  by  a 
careful  student  of  the  subject  that  if  cotton  were 
produced  under  the  same  conditions  that  exist  in 
the  industrial  field,  the  cost  would  be  one  dollar 
a  pound.  But  the  eight-hour  day,  with  time-and- 
a-half  for  overtime,  has  not  been  introduced  upon 
the  Southern  plantation,  and  the  world  continues 
to  find  its  greatest  bargains  at  the  cotton  counter. 
The  manufacture  of  cotton  goods  and  cotton 
seed  products  constitutes  a  huge  industry  in 
Birmingham,  and  it  seems  more  than  passing 
strange  that  two  such  universally  adaptable  prod- 
ucts as  cotton  and  coal  should  abound  in  the  same 

[  203  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

territory;  coal  with  its  infinite  variety  of  by- 
products, ranging  from  gas,  oil  and  acids  to  per- 
fumes and  medicines,  and  cotton,  which  makes  pos- 
sible ragless  paper,  cocoonless  silk,  creamless  ice 
cream,  hogless  lard  and  wheatless  bread. 

The  once  lowly  peanut  also  has  an  active  part  in 
the  industrial  life  of  Birmingham,  having  gradu- 
ated from  circus  adjunct,  and  boon  companion  to 
red  lemonade,  into  an  article  of  commerce  that  is 
of  great  importance.  Alabama  leads  the  world  in 
the  production  of  peanuts,  having  attained  this 
distinction  while  fighting  the  inroads  of  the  boll 
weevil  with  the  weapon  of  diversification.  Until 
the  coming  of  the  cotton  pest,  the  peanut  was 
regarded  generally  as  a  convenient  something 
upon  which  to  clamp  the  jaws  while  watching  the 
death-defying  leaps  of  the  trapeze  performers,  or 
to  slip  to  the  baby  elephants  in  passing  through 
the  animal  tent,  but  its  place  in  the  industrial 
world  was  just  about  nil. 

At  this  stage  entered  Mr.  Boll  Weevil,  the  blight 
of  his  presence  being  felt  throughout  the  far-flung 
cotton  belt.  In  Alabama  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture began  a  frantic  search  for  things  that 
Alabama  farmers  grow  in  lieu  of  cotton,  and  one 
of  the  results  was  the  peanut.  Experiments 
proved  that  salad  oils,  butter,  lard,  soap,  paint, 
nitro-glycerine  and  other  valuable  products  could 

[  204  ] 


world's  largest  rotary  coal  dump 


WORLD'S    largest    LAKE    OF   PITCH 


THE   SWAY   OF   KING   COTTON 

be  extracted  from  the  peanut,  and  Alabama  turned 
to  its  production  with  an  enthusiasm  that  was 
eloquent  of  its  desire  for  relief  from  the  cotton 
situation.  At  the  same  time  mills  for  the  extrac- 
tion of  the  hidden  properties  of  the  peanut  sprang 
up  in  many  parts  of  the  state,  and  there  was  laid 
the  foundation  of  a  new  form  of  agricultural  and 
industrial  activity. 

As  an  evidence  of  appreciation  for  what  the 
boll  weevil  did  in  driving  the  farmers  of  Alabama 
to  the  raising  of  peanuts,  velvet  beans,  tobacco, 
alfalfa  and  similar  products,  the  people  of  South 
Alabama  erected  a  monument  to  that  energetic 
bug,  the  testimonial  being  unveiled  several  years 
ago  with  elaborate  ceremonies. 

While  truck  farming  constitutes  an  important 
factor  in  the  territory  adjacent  to  Birmingham, 
the  real  agricultural  life  of  the  State  centers  in  a 
territory  located  south  of  this  city,  known  as  the 
*^ Black  Belt.''  This  name  is  not  given  as  indica- 
tive of  the  color  of  the  population,  although  the 
negroes  are  largely  in  the  majority,  but  is  derived 
from  the  color  of  the  soil. 

The  ** Black  Belt,"  which  has  an  average  width 
of  about  eighteen  miles,  traverses  the  State  a  little 
south  of  the  center,  and  ends  just  across  the  Mis- 
sissippi line.  Though  it  is  hundreds  of  miles  from 
salt  water,  there  is  evidence  that  the  *' Black  Belt'' 

[  205  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

once  formed  the  bottom  of  a  great  sea.  Petrified 
fisli  bones,  sea  shells  and  similar  evidence  of  pre- 
historic life  abound,  and  the  soil  is  said  by  ex- 
perts to  be  as  rich  as  any  found  upon  this  con- 
tinent. Even  in  anti-bellum  days,  when  communi- 
cation was  slow  and  travel  was  fraught  with  great 
difficulty,  the  fame  of  the  *^ Black  Belf  was  wide- 
spread, and  much  Eastern  capital  found  its  w^ay 
into  the  territory.  As  much  as  $100  per  acre  was 
paid  for  the  land  back  in  those  days;  this  at  a 
time  when  ordinary  lands  could  be  purchased  for 
a  dollar  an  acre.  However,  the  advent  of  war, 
culminated  in  the  passing  of  slave  labor,  wrought 
a  mighty  change  in  this  prosperous  section.  Land 
values  dropped  as  much  as  ninety  percent  in  many 
instances,  and,  in  lieu  of  slave  labor,  came  the 
tenant  system  —  owners  renting  out  broad  and 
fertile  acres  to  ex-slaves,  usually  upon  a  basis  of 
one-half  the  total  crop.  The  owner  of  the  land 
supplied  the  things  needful  for  production  of  the 
crops,  including  animals,  implements,  seeds,  etc., 
and  also  furnished  the  necessities  of  life  to  the 
tenant  and  his  family. 

When  the  crops  were  garnered,  would  come  the 
settlement  between  the  owner  and  tenant.  The 
value  of  the  products  was  ascertained,  and  fifty 
percent  of  the  whole  was  credited  to  the  land- 
owner and  fifty  percent  to  the  tenant.   Then  from 

[  206  ] 


THE   SWAY  OF   KING   COTTON 

the  tenant  ^s  half  was  deducted  the  amount  charged 
against  him  for  supplies.  This  system,  practiced 
with  honesty  as  between  the  conscientious  land 
owner  and  the  ignorant  black,  worked  in  an  equi- 
table and  satisfactory  manner,  but,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  the  time  came  when  the  land  fell  into 
the  hands  of  some  who  had  no  scruples  about  deal- 
ing with  the  negro,  and  out  of  this  condition  grew 
a  long  chain  of  abuses.  The  *^ advance  merchant" 
came  upon  the  scene,  removing  from  the  shoulders 
of  the  land  owner  the  burden  of  providing  the  ten- 
ant with  the  things  needful  for  producing  the  crop 
and  maintaining  his  family  between  seasons. 

Many  of  these  merchants  played  a  useful  and 
constructive  part  in  keeping  the  agriculture  of  the 
South  moving,  but,  as  always  under  such  circum- 
stances, the  man  looking  for  a  big  profit,  and  hav- 
ing no  compunctions  as  to  how  it  was  obtained, 
found  this  a  lucrative  field.  The  scliemes  to  which 
he  would  resort  in  robbing  the  negro  of  the  fruit 
of  his  toil  is  the  theme  of  many  a  story,  and  they 
illustrate  a  genius  for  wrongdoing,  as  w^ell  as  a 
surprising  indifference  to  the  Golden  Rule.  One 
of  the  common  practices  of  this  element  is  said  to 
have  been  to  start  a  ^'charge  column '^  with  the 
year,  then  add  the  purchases  from  time  to  time, 
thus: 

[  207  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

Bought:  Sept.  1,1868 

1  sack  of  meal $2.40 

1  pr.  shoes 3 .  00 

10  lbs.  coffee 1.50 

When  the  time  of  settlement  came,  the  year  went 
into  the  total  charged  against  the  farmer,  along 
with  such  other  extraordinary  charges  as  might 
have  suggested  themselves  during  the  twelve 
months,  and  he  was  a  lucky  individual  who  had 
anything  left  after  the  settlement. 

The  impression  made  upon  the  mind  of  the 
negro  tenant  by  practices  of  this  kind,  was  well 
illustrated  on  one  occasion  when  a  wealthy  citizen 
from  the  North  came  into  Alabama  with  a  view  to 
buying  a  large  plantation  which  had  been  offered 
for  sale.  The  deal  was  considered  so  important 
that  the  real  estate  man  handling  the  matter  called 
upon  the  Agricultural  Department  of  the  State  for 
the  assistance  of  an  expert  in  explaining  the  na- 
ture of  the  soil  and  the  wide  variety  of  products 
to  which  it  was  adapted.  The  visitor  was  much 
impressed  and  was  about  to  close  the  deal  when 
he  fell  into  conversation  with  an  aged  darky,  and 
then  it  looked  for  a  few  minutes  as  though  the  real 
estate  man  might  lose  a  fat  commission  and  the 
State  a  new  citizen. 

While  the  parties  to  the  transaction  were  seated 
[  208  ] 


THE   SWAY   OF   KING   COTTON 

upon  the  broad  veranda  of  the  old  mansion  which 
adorned  this  plantation,  the  prospective  buyer  ob- 
served an  aged  negro  seated  by  an  overflowing 
artesian  well  that  bubbled  up  near  the  house,  and 
he  strolled  over  to  the  darky,  whereupon  the  fol- 
lowing conversation  was  overheard  by  the  real 
estate  dealer  and  the  agent  from  the  Agricultural 
Department : 

**How  long  have  you  lived  here?''  asked  the 
prospective  buyer. 

*^A11  my  life.  Boss;  I  was  horned  on  this  here 
place  befo'  de  wah,  an'  when  de  niggers  was  freed 
I  stayed  on  here,"  was  the  reply  of  the  darky. 

*'Then  you  know  this  plantation  very  well!" 

^'I  does  dat;  I  knows  every  foot  of  it,  an'  I 
knows  it  am  de  best  place  in  dis  whole  country. 
I  knows  mo'  cawn  an'  cotton  is  hauled  off 'n  dis 
place  ever  year  dan  off 'm  nair  uther  place  here- 
about. ' ' 

At  this  the  prospective  buyer  smiled  his  appre- 
ciation, and  the  real  estate  man  whispered  ''that 
ought  to  cinch  matters,"  but  the  conversation  at 
the  well  was  not  over,  for  the  gentleman  continued : 

''Then  I  ought  to  make  a  lot  of  money  off  of 
this  plantation,  eh?" 

"No,  sah.  Boss,  you  can't  make  no  money.  If 
you  does  it'll  be  the  fust  time  anybody  ever  done 
it  since  de  wah. ' ' 

[  209  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

The  jaw  of  the  Northerner  sagged  and  he 
gasped: 

^*If  it^s  such  fine  land  and  produces  such  splen- 
did crops,  why  is  it  money  cannot  be  made  heref 

'^Well,  Boss,  to  tell  you  de  truf,  de  ducks  eats 
it  all  up;  yes  sah,  de  ducks  takes  it  all!" 

*^The  ducks  eat  it  up!  What  on  earth  do  you 
mean  by  that?" 

**  Yes,  sir,  de  ducks  eats  it  up,  just  like  I's  tellin' 
you.  We  niggers  raises  heaps  of  cotton  an'  heaps 
of  oawn,  an'  den  we  takes  it  to  town  to  de  sto\ 
Den  de  white  folks  dey  figgers  an'  figgers,  an'  dey 
duoks  dis  and  dey  ducks  dat,  and  'fo  de  Lawd, 
by  time  dey's  done,  de  ducks  is  et  up  ever'  thing 
we's  raised!" 

AVhen  the  Northerner  realized  that  the  darky's 
reference  to  *^de  ducks"  meant  ^^ deducts,"  he  was 
vastly  amused  and  exacted  from  the  aged  negro  a 
promise  that  he  would  remain  on  the  place  after 
he  purchased  it,  assuring  him  that  *^de  ducks" 
wouldn't  hamper  the  operation  of  the  plantation 
in  the  future. 

Today  the  old-time  advance  merchant  largely 
is  a  creature  of  the  past,  education  and  diversifi- 
cation having  proved  his  undoing.  Many  farmers 
are  able  to  finance  their  own  operations,  and  those 
who  cannot  have  the  help  of  the  banker  or  the 
legitimate  merchant.    So  *^de  ducks"  are  not  so 

[  210] 


THE   SWAY   OF   KING   COTTON 

destructive  of  farm  values  as  they  were  in  olden 
times. 

South  of  the  far-famed  ^^ Black  Belt"  there  is 
a  rich  and  fertile  section  where  the  products  cover 
a  wide  range,  including  numerous  varieties  of 
fruit,  berries,  melons  and  nuts.  Similar  condi- 
tions exist  in  the  farming  section  throughout 
upper  Alabama,  though  in  this  part  of  the  State 
semi-tropical  fruits  and  choicer  garden  products 
do  not  flourish  as  prodigiously,  nor  mature  so 
early  in  the  year. 

Were  it  without  mineral  deposits  of  any  char- 
acter, Alabama  still  would  be  a  rich  State  because 
of  the  abundance  of  its  agricultural  output  and  the 
wide  variety  of  products  its  equitable  climate 
makes  possible.  In  view  of  this  fact,  Birming- 
ham might  aptly  be  termed  an  island  of  industry 
completely  surrounded  by  a  sea  of  agricultural 
activity,  and  this  condition  simplifies  the  problem 
of  what  to  eat  and  where  to  get  it.  Vegetables  and 
fruits  of  almost  every  variety  are  obtainable 
within  a  few  hours  after  they  are  gathered.  And 
so  with  sea  foods.  Fish,  crabs,  shrimp,  etc., 
brought  into  Mobile  harbor  this  evening  may  be 
served  upon  the  table  of  the  Birmingham  citizen 
tomorrow  morning,  together  with  grapefruit, 
oranges,  strawberries,  cantaloupes  or  figs  that  are 
plucked  today.    The  problem  of  something  to  put 

[  211  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

in  the  morning  coffee,  or  to  serve  with  the  break- 
fast cereal,  is  simplified  by  the  fact  that  there  are 
approximately  one  hundred  and  fifty  dairies 
within  twenty  miles  of  the  city. 


[  212  ] 


CHAPTER  XV 


BLAZING   NEW  TRAILS 


OWING  to  the  unusual  character  of  the 
materials  with  which  they  had  to  work, 
creative  effort  of  the  highest  order  was 
necessary  on  the  part  of  those  who  blazed  the  way 
for  industry  in  this  district,  and  lent  wings  to  its 
hesitant  feet. 

The  utmost  ingenuity  was  required  in  the  de- 
velopment of  processes  for  the  successful  and 
economical  production  of  iron  and  steel,  the  ex- 
periments which  finally  were  crowned  with  suc- 
cess, extending  over  a  number  of  years,  and  the 
results  being  a  complete  surprise  to  the  world's 
chief  authorities  in  metallurgical  matters. 

This  early  call  for  resourcefulness  in  dealing 
with  new  and  unexplored  fields,  if  those  fields  were 
to  become  productive,  had  the  effect  of  developing 

[  213  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

a  scliool  of  thinkers,  out  of  whose  researches  have 
come  many  contributions  to  industrial  progress. 

To  make  practical  and  profitable  the  use  of  ma- 
terials which  seemed  impossible  of  utilization  in 
competition  with  established  industries,  follow- 
ing established  practices  with  materials  whose 
secrets  were  mastered  long  since,  was  to  put  Birm- 
ingham upon  a  sound  and  permanent  basis.  The 
inventions  by  means  of  which  this  was  accom- 
plished were  followed  by  many  others  that 
gave  to  permanency  the  elements  of  speed  and 
safety. 

Processes  invented  in  Birmingham  in  the  begin- 
ning had  to  do  with  local  materials  and  were  not 
always  susceptible  of  general  adaptation.  Not  so 
with  many  of  those  which  subsequently  came  out 
of  that  hard  school  of  exploration  into  the  un- 
known. Many  mechanical  inventions  and  chemical 
processes  evolved  here  have  found  nation-wide 
application. 

In  the  mining  of  bituminous  coal,  which  is  highly 
productive  of  explosive  material,  tremendous  ad- 
vances have  been  made,  with  the  result  that  mine 
disasters  have  become  exceedingly  rare.  Indeed, 
the  complete  story  of  what  has  been  accomplished 
in  promoting  safety  in  mines  and  mills  and  fac- 
tories in  the  Birmingham  district  would  make  a 
volume  in  itself,  and  would  bear  eloquent  testi- 

[  214] 


BLAZING  NEW   TRAILS 

mony  to  the  inventive  genius  of  those  behind  the 
great  industrial  agencies  of  the  district. 

A  rather  remarkable  thing  in  connection  with 
Birmingham  inventions  is  that  when  one  under- 
takes to  trace  many  of  them  to  their  origin,  the 
trail  leads  right  up  to  the  desk  of  some  million- 
aire; some  big  industrial  figure,  whose  incentive 
was  not  the  money  that  might  be  obtained  through 
a  successful  patent,  but  was  the  result  of  a  keen 
desire  to  accomplish  better  things  than  were  being 
accomplished  under  the  existing  order. 

These  heads  of  huge  enterprises  became  in- 
ventors because  they  wanted  to  see  ends  attained 
with  greater  speed;  because  they  wanted  to  sim- 
plify processes  and  eliminate  lost  motion,  and  be- 
cause they  wanted  to  see  results  standardized. 
If  they  saw  an  opportunity  to  plant  a  machine  that 
would  make  two  men  go,  where  they  had  to  use 
four  under  old  conditions,  they  applied  themselves 
to  the  task  and  usually  accomplished  what  they 
went  after. 

There  is  nothing  about  these  inventions  that 
suggests  the  long-haired  theorist,  hopeful  of  per- 
fecting a  perpetual  motion  machine,  and  thereby 
becoming  wealthy  beyond  the  dreams  of  avarice. 
Hard-headed  and  dynamic  individuals,  determined 
to  make  their  particular  mine,  furnace  or  mill 
more  effective  than  the  mine  or  furnace  or  mill  of 

[  215  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

the  other  fellow,  they  have  evolved  their  process 
and  their  machines  for  the  joy  of  seeing  ends 
accomplished  more  effectually  and  more  expedi- 
tiously. 

As  a  rule  the  two-fold  purpose  behind  these  dis- 
plays of  inventive  genius  has  been,  first,  to  insure 
greater  safety,  and,  second,  to  minimize  cost 
through  the  elimination  of  labor. 

An  apt  illustration  of  this  two-fold  idea  is  found 
in  the  invention  of  the  Ramsay  Rotary  dump,  con- 
ceived over  twenty  years  ago  by  Erskine  Ramsay 
with  a  view  to  meeting  a  local  situation,  but  since 
adopted  by  industrial  organizations  throughout 
the  country,  many  of  the  appliances  being  in  use 
in  the  great  coal  fields  of  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  Ramsay,  now  a  millionaire  coal  operator, 
conceived  the  idea  that  if  the  cars  composing  a 
train  could  be  dumped  one  at  a  time,  or  in  multiple, 
many  improvements  and  economies  in  mining 
practices  would  result.  Chief  among  these  ad- 
vantages would  be  the  elimination  of  end  gates 
and  drop-bottoms  in  mine  cars,  and  the  ability  to 
handle  an  entire  train  of  as  many  as  thirty  cars, 
as  is  now  being  done,  without  uncoupling  the  train 
from  the  haulage  rope,  or  motor,  or  the  cars  from 
each  other.  The  elimination  of  the  doors  was  to 
prevent  the  escape  of  coal,  which  under  the  old 
system  filled  the  mine  entries  and  haulage  roads 
[  216  ] 


BLAZING  NEW   TRAILS 

with  the  fine  dust  that  is  one  of  the  chief  causes 
of  mine  explosions. 

The  first  of  these  dumps  was  installed  at  an  ore 
mine  on  Red  Mountain  by  the  Tennessee  Company. 
Today  they  are  infuse,  not  only  at  ore  and  coal 
mines  throughout  the  country,  but  have  been 
adapted  to  the  handling  of  sugar  beets,  phosphate 
rock  and  salt.  The  largest  plant  of  the  kind  in  the 
world  was  manufactured  for  and  is  now  in  use  by 
the  Snowden  Coke  Company  near  Pittsburgh.  It 
receives  and  dumps  a  trip  of  twenty-eight  mine 
cars,  emptying  them  in  ten  seconds. 

Prior  to  the  development  of  a  process  for  the 
manufacture  of  steel  from  Birmingham  iron,  work 
of  the  highest  importance  was  performed  by  Mr. 
Ramsay  in  developing  processes  for  improving  the 
qualify  of  the  raw  materials.  While  he  was  Chief 
Engineer  of  the  Tennessee  Company,  before  it  was 
taken  over  by  the  Steel  Corporation,  he  developed 
an  improved  coal  w^asher  that  was  adopted  by 
numerous  producers.  From  washing  no  coal  at 
all,  the  Tennessee  Company  began  washing  every 
pound  that  it  put  into  coke,  and  the  improvement 
in  quality  formed  an  important  contribution  to  the 
successful  conversion  of  Alabama  iron  into  basic 
open  hearth  steel. 

The  Ramsay  coal  sampler  is  another  invention 
to  the  credit  of  this  engineer.     It  takes  samples 

[217] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

from  a  large  proportion  of  the  coal  mined  during 
the  day,  and  the  operator  is  enabled  to  learn  just 
the  quality  of  the  coal  each  miner  is  loading.  The 
result  is  a  cleaner  coal.  Mr.  Ramsay  also  built, 
in  the  Birmingham  shop,  the  first  shaking  screen 
for  bituminous  coal  manufactured  in  the  United 
States,  and  he  followed  this  with  the  invention  of 
a  feeder,  now  in  use  in  many  plants  throughout 
the  country.  Mine  cars,  car  wheels  and  bearings 
also  commanded  his  attention,  with  the  result  that 
he  has  practically  covered  the  entire  mining  field, 
including  coke  ovens  and  furnaces.  The  list  in- 
cludes an  overhead,  slow-moving,  rope  haulage 
system,  which  has  been  installed  in  Alabama,  and 
is  now  being  put  in  service  at  the  mines  of  the 
Tennessee  Consolidated  Coal  Company  in  Ten- 
nessee. 

The  same  problem  which  Erskine  Ramsay  solved 
with  his  early  invention  was  solved  by  another 
Birmingham  engineer,  Edwin  J.  Best,  with  an  auto- 
matic rotary  dump,  the  power  for  which  is  fur- 
nished by  the  car  itself.  The  unbalanced  weight 
of  the  loaded  car  causes  the  dump  to  turn  over, 
and  as  it  turns  it  develops  sufficient  power, 
through  a  fly-wheel,  to  enable  the  empty  car  to 
return  to  its  normal  position.  This  ingenious  con- 
trivance eliminates  the  necessity  of  a  power  drive, 
and  is  another  conservator  of  labor. 

[  218  ] 


BLAZING  NEW  TRAILS 

Another  important  invention  by  anotlier  man 
whose  genius  has  been  applied  because  problems 
had  to  be  solved,  and  not  because  of  any  idea  of 
making  money  out  of  a  patent,  is  a  tunnel  system 
of  handling  and  distributing  the  elements  entering 
into  the  making  of  iron.  Under  this  system,  the 
car  in  which  the  various  ingredients  are  assem- 
bled is  run  through  a  tunnel,  above  which  are 
stored  the  various  grades  of  ore,  the  coke,  the 
limestone,  and  the  dolomite.  As  the  car  advances, 
these  materials  are  fed  into  it  automatically,  each 
in  the  proper  proportion,  and  when  the  car  is 
filled  its  contents  is  conveyed  by  a  skip-hoist  to 
the  top  of  the  furnace,  where  it  is  dumped  into 
the  hot  and  hungry  interior. 

This  system  is  the  invention  of  ^^Rick''  Wood- 
ward, the  head  of  one  of  the  greatest  industrial 
organizations  in  the  district,  and  also  the  owner 
of  Birmingham's  baseball  park  and  franchise. 
The  son  of  J.  H.  Woodward,  one  of  the  pioneer 
developers  of  Alabama,  and  a  man  who  believed 
that  boys  should  start  at  the  bottom.  Rick  Wood- 
ward learned  to  be  an  engineer  under  the  urging 
of  his  millionaire  father.  During  the  recent  strike 
on  the  Atlanta,  Birmingham  &  Atlantic  Railroad, 
when  the  whole  system  was  tied  up,  he  put  on 
overalls,  climbed  into  the  cab  of  a  locomotive,  and 
pulled  a  train  over  the  road  until  other  help  could 

[  219  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

be  obtained.  A  director  in  this  railroad,  he 
climbed  back  in  the  cab,  after  years  of  absence, 
because  he  didn't  like  to  see  the  wheels  standing 
still.  Later  he  was  much  surprised  when  the 
newspapers  over  the  country  came  out  with  first- 
page  headlines  reading  ''Millionaire  Engineer 
Pulls  Train  When  Men  Strike,"  and  by  the  pic- 
turesque stories  that  followed. 

Another  leading  figure  in  the  industrial  field 
who  has  been  tireless  in  the  development  of  new 
processes  and  refinements  is  George  Gordon 
Crawford,  president  of  most  of  the  subsidiary 
organizations  of  the  United  States  Steel  Corpora- 
tion in  Alabama.  His  contributions  to  the  steel 
and  iron  industry  have  been  invaluable,  and  he 
is  also  the  inventor  of  a  water  seal  for  gas  mains 
which  has  supplanted  the  ordinary  type  of  valve 
all  over  the  world. 

Furnaces  are  connected  up  by  immense  gas 
pipes,  and  when  one  of  a  battery  has  to  be  shut 
down  for  repairs  the  connecting  pipe  must  be 
closed  to  shut  off  the  gas.  The  old  method  was  to 
use  a  metal  valve  which  nearly  always  became 
leaky  through  infrequent  use,  and  it  happened 
on  numerous  occasions  that  walls  of  brick  had  to 
be  built  in  the  pipe  to  effect  a  seal.  The  water 
seal  made  it  possible  to  shut  off  the  gas  in  less 
than  a  minute,  and  keep  it  shut  off  absolutely,  the 

[  220  ] 


BLAZING  NEW  TRAILS 

process  involving  nothing  more  than  turning  a 
cock.  To  open  the  valve  when  repairs  were  com- 
pleted was  equally  simple.  This  tremendously  im- 
portant invention,  devised  to  meet  a  local  situa- 
tion and  with  no  idea  of  its  value  as  a  patented 
device,  caught  the  attention  of  one  of  the  big 
national  figures  in  the  ironmaking  industry  and 
was  patented  at  his  suggestion.  Since  then  it  has 
become  of  universal  application. 

A  Birmingham  inventor  whose  genius  has  re- 
sulted in  the  establishment  of  a  national  industry 
of  world-mde  significance  is  R.  S.  Hunger,  whose 
organization  has  plants  scattered  from  Texas  to 
Massachusetts.  His  inventions,  numbering  scores, 
relate  to  cotton  handling  equipment. 

To  a  Birmingham  inventor  also  is  due  the  credit 
for  another  basic  patent  which  has  become  the 
foundation  of  a  vast  industry  —  the  steam  tur- 
bine. Some  twenty  years  ago,  James  Wilkinson, 
an  engineer  in  the  employ  of  the  local  street  rail- 
way company,  developed  nearly  a  hundred  inven- 
tions relating  to  the  turbine,  which  had  just  begun 
to  attract  the  attention  of  engineers.  With  prac- 
tically no  capital  and  very  little  encouragement, 
Wilkinson  built  three  steam  turbines,  two  of  which 
were  sold  to  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany and  installed  in  a  pumping  plant  near  Al- 
bany, N.  Y.    The  success  of  the  engines  brought 

[221  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

local  capitalists  to  the  assistance  of  the  inventor. 
Later,  when  the  attention  of  the  outside  world  had 
been  attracted  and  bidding  for  the  Wilkinson  pat- 
ents became  spirited,  all  those  having  stock  in  the 
enterprise  expected  to  reap  pounds  where  they  had 
sown  pennies.  For  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  they 
would,  too,  but  the  big  agencies  which  sought  con- 
trol of  the  patents  were  shrewd  enough  to  get 
together  when  it  came  to  buying.  Thus,  while  a 
substantial  sum  was  received  the  dreams  of  a  lot 
of  stockholders  that  they  would  become  rich  over 
night  were  not  realized.  Ultimately  the  patents 
became  the  property  of  the  General  Electric  Com- 
pany and  proved  an  important  element  in  engi- 
neering progress. 

The  mail  cranes  which  stand  on  the  right-of-way 
of  practically  all  Southern  railroads  and  from 
which  passing  trains  snatch  bags  laden  with  bills, 
billet-doux  and  the  like  is  the  invention  of  a  Birm- 
ingham man,  W.  S.  Davidson. 

An  invention  that  grew  out  of  inability  to  find 
enough  giants  to  perform  what  used  to  be  the 
most  back-breaking  labor  about  furnaces  was  pro- 
duced by  J.  P.  Dovel,  an  engineer  of  the  Sloss 
Company,  in  a  **pig  breaker"  that  is  now  used 
generally.  In  the  old  days  it  was  almost  impos- 
sible for  furnace  companies  to  keep  enough  men 
who  had  the  strength  necessary  to  ** break  pig,'' 

[  222  ] 


BLAZING  NEW  TRAILS 

a  task  which  consisted  in  breaking  up  the  pieces 
of  iron  that  are  formed  every  time  the  molten 
metal  is  run  into  the  molding  beds. 

The  ^^bed'^  in  which  pig  iron  is  cast  at  the  aver- 
age furnace  is  made  of  sand,  filled  with  half-moon 
depressions.  All  of  these  minor  depressions, 
which  form  the  ^'pig"  or  iron  slab,  are  joined  to- 
gether by  a  slightly  larger  depression  which  forms 
a  '^ ditch''  through  which  the  molten  iron  runs  in 
reaching  the  minor  depressions.  A  rough  idea  of 
what  I  am  attempting  to  describe  may  be  obtained 
by  imagining  the  form  that  would  be  left  were  a 
coarse  comb  pressed  into  a  flat  piece  of  dough. 
The  back  of  the  comb  would  make  the  trough 
through  which  the  molten  metal  flows,  while  the 
teeth  would  form  the  depressions  into  which  the 
iron  flows  off  to  become  *^pig.''  It  was  in  break- 
ing this  long  piece  of  iron  up  into  small  lengths, 
like  the  ^^pig,"  and  in  breaking  the  *^pig''  from 
the  *'back''  of  the  comb  that  such  tremendous 
energy  was  wasted  in  the  old  days.  Giant  negroes 
usually  performed  the  task,  and  it  was  slow  and 
exhausting  work.  The  machine  invented  by  Dovel 
seizes  these  heavy  pieces  of  iron  and  breaks  them 
up  as  though  they  were  so  many  matches.  Thus 
ended  the  quest  for  giants. 

While  not  so  spectacular  as  the  inventions  pro- 
duced  in   the   mechanical  world,   the   inventions 

[223] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

coming  from  the  laboratories  of  tlie  Birmingliam 
district  have  been  quite  as  important.  Tliey  made 
possible  the  remarkable  results  obtained  in  pro- 
ducing steel  from  the  low-grade  ores  which  abound 
in  North  Alabama,  and,  naturally,  the  chemical 
engineers  take  great  pride  in  the  results  that  have 
been  attained.  What  they  have  accomplished  was 
again  and  again  declared  to  be  impossible. 

An  exception  to  the  general  run  of  Birmingham 
inventors  was  Andrew  Jackson  Beard,  an  old-time 
darky,  whose  mechanical  conceptions  caused  many 
local  citizens  to  contribute  sundry  sums  of  money 
and  to  dream  dreams  of  future  wealth. 

Andy  was  a  typical  ante-bellum  negro,  but  one 
gifted  with  exceptional  ingenuity.  Able  neither 
to  read  nor  to  write,  and  without  any  mechanical 
training,  he  evolved  a  number  of  devices  that  for 
a  time  promised  to  produce  revolutionary  results. 
One  of  these  contrivances  was  a  car  coupler,  and 
when  he  displayed  it  at  a  convention  of  the  Master 
Car  Builders'  Association  in  Atlantic  City  some 
years  ago  it  made  such  an  impression  that  Andy 
was  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the  organiza- 
tion. An  humble  and  unpretentious  darky,  he 
cherished  the  memory  of  his  Atlantic  City  expe- 
rience so  long  as  he  lived  and  counted  his  election 
as  an  honorary  member  of  the  Master  Car  Build- 
ers' Association  as  one  of  the  greatest  distinctions 

[  224  ] 


BLAZING  NEW   TRAILS 

that  could  come  to  man.  Until  his  death  he  con- 
tinued assiduously  to  work  upon  his  invention, 
hoping  always  to  perfect  it  and  to  see  it  univer- 
sally adopted  as  a  standard.  Among  many  other 
white  men  who  assisted  Andy  from  time  to  time 
and  tried  to  make  his  dream  come  true  was 
W.  Melville  Drennen,  wealthy  merchant  and  twice 
mayor  of  Birmingham. 

Though  riches  never  rewarded  the  patient  en- 
deavors of  this  unique  darky,  the  interest  taken  in 
him  and  his  work  by  white  friends  was  such  that 
he  lived  comfortably  and  was  able  to  spend  his 
days  in  hope,  the  rainbow  tints  of  which  were  not 
darkened  by  the  shadows  of  want. 

In  recalling  this  darky  and  his  inventions,  I  am 
reminded  that  the  idea  that  a  negro  was  worth 
insuring  originated  in  Birmingham,  and  that  out 
of  the  practical  application  of  this  idea  developed 
a  business  that  runs  into  the  millions.  A  number 
of  years  ago  a  local  citizen  who  owned  a  large 
plantation  in  another  part  of  the  State  suffered 
heavy  losses  because  of  an  epidemic  of  some  kind 
that  took  off  several  of  his  negro  *  Viands'*  just 
when  their  services  were  needed  to  care  for  crops 
that  were  ready  for  harvest.  The  losses  conse- 
quent upon  inability  to  get  other  help  suggested 
the  idea  of  insuring  the  lives  of  such  employees, 
but  when  the  matter  was  gone  into  it  was  found 

[  225  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

that  standard  insurance  companies  did  not  accept 
such  risks.  Thereupon  an  insurance  conipany  de- 
signed especially  for  the  protection  of  negroes  was 
organized.  It  developed  into  quite  a  success,  and 
then  others  were  formed  along  the  same  lines. 
Later  many  standard  companies  of  the  old  school 
let  down  the  bars  to  the  physically  sound  among 
the  black  race  with  the  result  that  today  the  darky 
has  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  insurance.  In  fact, 
he  has  considerable  difficulty  in  avoiding,  it  if  he 
lives  in  a  city,  for  some  of  these  companies  have 
a  weekly  pay  system  with  many  live  and  skillful 
agents  in  the  field. 

Following  the  development  of  the  life  insur- 
ance idea,  as  applied  to  the  negro,  came  the  **sick 
benefit''  and  the  ** funeral  benefit,"  both  of  which 
found  an  almost  instant  response  among  darkies. 
Incidentally  it  may  be  observed  that  this  **sick 
benefit"  shares  with  the  hookworm  and  the  mala- 
rial mosquito  such  credit  as  is  due  for  the  preva- 
lence of  ills  among  the  blacks  of  the  South. 

As  with  white  physicians,  it  is  not  always  pos- 
sible for  the  colored  practitioner  to  determine  the 
nature  of  the  ill  with  which  the  patient  is  afflicted, 
and  the  patient  frequently  is  unable  to  give  him 
any  information  other  than  he  has  a  ** misery"  in 
the  back  or  an  **ailin'  "  in  the  side.  Just  how  to 
diagnose  a  case  when  the  truth  was  in  doubt  re- 

[  226  ] 


BLAZING  NEW  TRAILS 

mained  a  puzzling  problem  until  some  court  ren- 
dered a  decision  holding  that  one  having  a  sick- 
benefit  policy  might  recover  when  ill  from  malaria. 
This  decision  simplified  matters  immensely, 
though  the  sudden  increase  in  malaria  in  various 
Southern  cities  was  not  so  complimentary  to  the 
efficiency  of  health  authorities  as  to  the  percep- 
tion of  certain  physicians.  Still,  it  enabled  pa- 
tients to  collect  sick  benefits  and,  collecting  sick 
benefits,  they  were  in  position  to  pay  promptly 
for  professional  attention,  which  seems  to  justify 
the  adage  that  it's  an  ill  wind  that  blows  nobody 
a  kiss. 


^mm 


CHAPTER  XVI 


KEFOEMIXG  THE  PUBLIC  DOLLAR 


THE  story  of  the  simple-minded  flood  victim 
who  sought  assistance  from  the  mayor 
is  told  frequently  as  an  illustration  of  the 
way  in  which  municipal  officials  function,  and  the 
gusto  with  which  it  is  related  furnishes  an  ex- 
ample of  the  all-too-prevalent  attitude  toward  the 
government  which  comes  closest  to  the  people  and 
which  should  be  most  responsive  to  their  needs. 

According  to  this  story,  a  man  residing  in  a  low 
section  of  a  mid-western  city  suffered  the  loss  of 
all  his  chickens  when  the  neighborhood  was  swept 
by  a  flood.  Someone  to  whom  he  was  pouring  out 
his  tale  of  woe  suggested  that  he  call  upon  the 
mayor  for  relief.     A  few  days  later  the  man 

[  228  ] 


EEFORMING  THE  PUBLIC  DOLLAR 

making  the  suggestion  met  the  unfortunate  chicken 
fancier  and  the  following  dialogue  took  place : 

^^Did  you  go  to  the  mayor  about  your  chickens 
being  drowned  f 

*^Yes,  I  went  right  away.'' 
**Well,  did  he  give  you  any  money!'' 
'^No,  but  he  was  free  with  his  advice  —  told  me 
to  cut  out  the  chickens  and  raise  ducks." 

At  this  juncture  everybody  is  supposed  to  laugh, 
the  point  being  that  a  man  should  have  more  sense 
than  to  expect  something  from  his  government. 
Undoubtedly,  there  is  a  disposition  on  the  part  of 
many  city  dwellers  to  expect  a  very  small  return 
upon  the  money  they  invest  in  their  local  govern- 
ment. Their  idea  seems  to  be  that  the  public  till 
has  a  most  demoralizing  effect  upon  coin  and  cur- 
rency;  that  however  sober  and  industrious  a  dollar 
may  have  been  while  at  work  in  the  channels  of 
trade  or  commerce  it  quits  the  path  of  rectitude 
upon  falling  under  the  spell  of  the  public  treas- 
ury and  henceforth  is  a  profligate. 

To  give  this  profligate  public  dollar  a  purchas- 
ing power  equal  to  that  possessed  by  the  thrifty 
private  dollar  has  been  the  dream  of  many,  and 
numerous  instances  are  on  record  where  gratify- 
ing results  were  obtained,  but  there  is  enough 
waste  in  American  cities  today  to  keep  alive  the 
feeling  that  the  public  dollar  is  dissolute  beyond 

[  229  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

redemption;  that  in  spite  of  all  that  is  said  and 
done  it  will  continue  to  go  the  way  of  the  wanton. 

As  a  consequence  of  repeated  failures  at  reform 
a  spirit  of  cynicism  has  been  developed  that  has 
proved  a  very  wall  of  obstruction  in  many  commu- 
nities. This  spirit  finds  expression  on  the  one 
hand  in  blind  indifference  to  governmental  mat- 
ters, while  on  the  other  hand  it  is  manifested  in 
an  attitude  of  destructive  criticism:  nothing  is 
done  right,  nothing  can  be  done  right,  therefore 
nothing  should  be  attempted. 

Any  development,  the  tendency  of  which  is  to 
alter  this  attitude  of  indifference  and  to  eliminate 
doubt  respecting  the  possibility  of  sane  and  con- 
structive accomplishments  through  governmental 
agencies  would  appear  to  be  worthy  of  considera- 
tion. In  this  connection  some  encouragement  may 
be  found  in  Birmingham's  experience  during  the 
three  years  of  mounting  prices  and  growing  de- 
mands incident  to  the  World  War.  The  city  came 
through  this  period  of  extraordinary  stress  with 
a  balance  on  the  right  side  of  the  ledger ;  a  prac- 
tical illustration  of  the  fact  that  the  public  dollar 
may  be  reformed  and  an  actual  demonstration  of 
efficiency  that  should  furnish  a  ray  of  hope  to  the 
political  dyspeptic  who  has  ceased  to  believe  that 
anything  can  come  out  of  municipal  government 
that  does  not  cost  more  than  it  should. 
[  230  ] 


REFORMING  THE  PUBLIC  DOLLAR 

The  experience  of  this  city  during  the  three  war 
years  is  portrayed  in  the  following  figures : 

In  1918  the  cost  of  operation  was  $42,092.11 
under  the  receipts ;  in  1919  the  excess  of  receipts 
over  expenditures  for  current  expenses  was  $130,- 
905.24 ;  in  1920  the  difference  on  the  right  side  of 
the  ledger  was  $40,588.46.  This  result  was 
achieved  not  by  a  quintet  of  financial  wizards,  but 
by  a  board  consisting  of  Dr.  N.  A.  Barrett,  a  re- 
tired physician;  J.  H.  Taylor,  a  real  estate  man; 
J.  Ellis  Brown,  a  lawyer ;  H.  P.  Burruss,  a  teacher, 
and  J.  R.  Hornady,  a  newspaper  editor. 

This  record  of  economy  in  the  administration  of 
public  affairs  furnishes  a  striking  contrast  to  the 
conditions  prevailing  prior  to  the  change  from  the 
aldermanic  to  the  commission  system  of  govern- 
menti  When  this  change  was  made  in  1911  there 
was  an  annual  deficit  of  over  $350,000.  Or,  to 
put  in  more  graphic  form,  the  municipality  was 
spending  a  round  thousand  dollars  a  day  more 
than  its  revenue  amounted  to.  Today  few  cities 
in  America  are  upon  a  firmer  financial  basis,  and 
its  credit  is  of  the  best.  And  good  credit,  it  might 
be  said  in  passing,  is  one  of  the  numerous  prod- 
ucts of  efficiency  in  making  the  public  dollar  quit 
its  riotous  conduct  and  settle  down  to  business. 

By  this  reference  to  the  change  in  the  form  of 
government  it  is  not  intended  to  convey  the  im- 

[  231  ] 


3rWH3A0 
THE  BOOK  OF  BIKMINGHAM 

pression  that  the  results  obtained  are  altogether 
due  to  the  form  employed  in  managing  municipal 
affairs.  The  form  constituted  a  highly  important 
factor,  but  the  methods  used  in  applying  the  form 
were  quite  as  important.  A  persistent  and  con- 
sistent effort  has  been  made  to  keep  the  people 
informed  concerning  their  public  affairs  and  to 
enlist  their  co-operation  in  mastering  the  problems 
that  weighed  so  heavily  upon  the  government 
during  these  times  of  stress. 

For  a  number  of  years  it  was  my  privilege  to 
study  the  subject  of  municipal  government.  I 
visited  a  large  number  of  cities  having  various 
forms  of  management,  and  observed  the  operation 
of  these  several  forms  at  close  range.  "While  the 
impression  created  was  that  the  commission  sys- 
tem is  the  most  effective  the  primary  conclusion 
was  that  government,  to  be  conspicuously  success- 
ful, must  be  co-operative  in  character.  That  is  to 
say,  the  people,  after  electing  their  officials 
must  help  them  in  the  management  of  public 
affairs. 

Speaking  broadly,  the  prevailing  attitude  of  the 
voters  is  to  take  an  intense  interest  in  the  political 
side  of  affairs,  and  to  a  large  extent  ignore  the 
practical  aspects  of  municipal  management.  They 
run  a  regular  Fourth  of  July  temperature  during 
the  campaign  for  election  of  public  officials  and 

[  232  ] 


-^"^ 


TYPICAL  SOUTH   SIDE   HOMES 


REFORMING  THE  PUBLIC  DOLLAR 

then  fall  to  zero  when  it  comes  to  helping  those 
officials  make  good  on  their  campaign  promises. 
In  brief,  the  average  citizen  believes  that  he  has 
discharged  his  duty  towards  his  town  when  he 
leaves  the  election  booth,  and  his  inclination  is 
to  let  the  man  on  the  job  look  after  things  for 
the  next  two,  three  or  four  years,  as  the  case 
may  be. 

With  this  familiar  truth  in  mind,  it  occurred 
to  me  that  it  would  be  a  most  interesting  develop- 
ment if  a  condition  were  brought  about  under 
which  public  interest  would  be  kept  alive  between 
campaigns,  and  a  spirit  of  genuine  co-operation 
between  the  people  and  their  officials  were  cre- 
ated. In  due  course  such  an  experiment  was 
inaugurated  in  Birmingham,  and  the  figures 
quoted  above  furnish  concrete  evidence  of  the 
results  that  may  be  obtained  under  such  con- 
ditions. 

The  five  men  who  constitute  the  governing  body 
of  the  City  of  Birmingham  have  been  unfailing 
in  their  efforts  to  enlist  the  co-operation  of  the 
hundred  and  forty  thousand  men  and  women  who 
constitute  the  adult  population.  They  have  gone 
out  of  their  way  to  get  the  public  viewpoint  on 
every  important  question,  and  while  they  have  not 
always  followed  what  appeared  to  be  the  popular 
trend,  they  have  been  able  to  give  the  people  a 

[  233  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

generally  satisfactory  reason  for  going  in  the 
other  direction.  Thus  they  have  fostered  the  idea 
of  government  as  an  instrumentality  of  the  peo- 
ple; as  a  thing  belonging  to  them  and  in  which 
they  have  a  right  to  be  heard  other  than  on  elec- 
tion day. 

This  system  has  served  to  keep  public  interest 
alive  at  all  seasons.  The  people  know  what  is 
going  on  at  the  city  hall  every  day  in  the  week, 
and  as  a  consequence  there  is  little  opportunity 
for  the  political  conspirator  to  spread  sinister 
rumors  and  thereby  destroy  confidence  and  impair 
efficiency.  People  may  not  always  approve  what 
is  being  done,  but  they  know  what  is  being  done 
and  the  existence  of  this  knowledge  makes  a  fun- 
damental difference. 

Weekly  meetings  are  held  by  the  commission- 
ers, and  these  meetings  are  made  a  clearing  house 
of  public  opinion.  If  any  important  step  is  con- 
templated, ample  notice  is  given  that  the  matter 
is  to  be  considered  and  all  who  are  interested  are 
invited  to  be  present  and  give  their  views. 

Following  the  reading  of  the  proposed  ordinance 
or  resolution  the  subject  is  thrown  open  for  dis- 
cussion, and  any  citizen,  male  or  female,  white  or 
black,  has  the  privilege  of  the  floor  and  the  issue 
is  thrashed  out  from  every  angle.  The  commis- 
sioners, after  listening  to  the  discussion,  express 

[  234  ] 


EEFORMING  THE  PUBLIC  DOLLAR 

their  own  views,  telling  wliy  they  are  for  or  against 
the  proposed  step,  and  the  thing  is  done.  To  say 
that  everybody  is  satisfied  would  be  ridiculous. 
No  attempt  is  made  to  satisfy  everybody,  since 
this  is  recognized  as  impossible,  but  everybody  has 
a  full  and  fair  hearing  and  the  defeated  go  away 
feeling  that  they  have  had  their  day  in  court  at 
any  rate. 

This  method  of  procedure  is  a  time  consumer, 
but  the  time  so  spent  has  proved  to  be  a  splendid 
investment.  The  newspapers  habitually  give  con- 
siderable space  to  the  discussions,  and  the  public 
as  a  whole  gets  an  excellent  idea  of  what  is  in- 
volved in  all  these  questions  of  public  policy.  The 
result  is  an  intimate  knowledge  of  local  affairs 
that  tends  to  keep  the  people  in  constant  touch 
with  their  officials  and  to  keep  alive  that  sense 
of  proprietorship  which  is  essential  to  successful 
administration. 

It  was  this  highly  developed  understanding  of 
municipal  affairs  that  made  it  possible  for  Birm- 
'ingham  to  come  through  each  year  of  the  war  with 
its  finances  in  better  condition  than  at  the  begin- 
ning; this  in  spite  of  the  tremendous  increase  in 
the  price  of  materials  and  labor.  The  showing  is 
made  more  remarkable  by  the  fact  that  the  tax 
rate  in  Birmingham  until  1921  was  the  lowest  of 
any  city  of  similar  size  in  America.  The  average 
[  235  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

tax  rate  for  municipal  purposes  in  cities  of  this 
class  is  about  a  dollar  and  a  half  on  the  hundred. 
In  Birmingham  the  rate  was  one  dollar  prior  to 
1921,  and  only  half  of  this  sum  was  available  for 
general  municipal  purposes,  thirty  cents  going  to 
the  schools  and  twenty  cents  into  a  sinking  fund 
to  care  for  bonded  indebtedness. 

Manifestly  a  city  circumscribed  in  this  fashion 
and  confronted  by  enormously  increased  costs 
could  not  do  all  that  the  people  wanted  done.  All 
it  could  do  without  plunging  into  debt  was  to  per- 
form the  essential  functions  and  leave  undone  the 
things  that  were  not  essential.  It  was  by  strict 
adherence  to  this  policy  that  the  remarkable  finan- 
cial record  was  achieved.  And  at  this  point  the 
value  of  the  co-operative  spirit  becomes  most  pro- 
nounced. Once  shown  the  impossibility  of  per- 
forming some  non-essential  thing  the  public  might 
demand  the  people  conceded  the  soundness  of  the 
position  of  their  officials,  and  there  was  compara- 
tively little  complaint. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  observed  that  one 
of  the  common  causes  for  deficits  in  the  manage- 
ment of  municipal  affairs  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
debts  are  incurred  in  order  to  satisfy  the  clamor 
of  some  element  of  the  citizenship  when,  if  the 
facts  were  stated  plainly  and  the  citizens  were 
shown  what  it  means  to  grant  such  requests,  they 
[  236  ] 


EEFORMING  THE  PUBLIC  DOLLAR 

would  in  most  instances  be  satisfied  to  let  the 
matter  drop. 

I  have  never  known  a  public  official  who  did  not 
want  to  please  the  public,  for  it  is  by  so  doing  that 
he  retains  his  popularity  at  the  polls  and  is  able 
to  continue  in  office.  He  is  tempted  constantly  to 
spend  more  money  than  it  is  wise  to  expend,  and 
what  many  officials  do  not  appreciate  is  the  fact 
that  the  people  who  own  the  government  and  who 
ultimately  must  suffer  the  consequence  of  riotous 
expenditures  are  reasonable  beings  and  that  they 
are  just  as  ready  to  applaud  sane  and  judicious 
management  in  public  affairs  as  they  are  in  the 
affairs  of  the  individual.  When  they  criticize  and 
resort  to  mass  meetings  because  of  the  failure  of 
the  governing  body  to  perform  some  service  that 
is  beyond  the  financial  resources  of  these  officials 
to  perform  it  is  because  they  are  ignorant  of  the 
true  facts.  If  they  knew  the  limitations  they 
would  no  more  clamor  for  these  limitations  to  be 
exceeded  than  they  would  insist  upon  a  business 
institution  with  which  they  might  be  connected 
plunging  into  debts  that  would  inevitably  pro- 
duce bankruptcy. 

Having  an  apt  appreciation  of  these  funda- 
mantal  truths,  the  commissioners  of  Birmingham 
have  kept  the  spot-light  upon  public  affairs  and 
have  been  enabled  to  enlist  the  sympathetic  assist- 

[  237  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

ance  of  the  public  in  meeting  the  extraordinary 
difficulties  of  the  past  few  years.  This  co-opera- 
tive spirit  not  only  enabled  the  city  to  weather 
the  storms  that  have  arisen,  but  it  has  made  pos- 
sible the  inauguration  of  measures  of  relief  for 
the  municipal  treasury  without  which  it  would 
have  become  increasingly  difficult  to  function  ade- 
quately. The  people,  knowing  all  about  their  gov- 
ernment and  being  in  intimate  touch  with  its 
needs,  voted  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  such 
measures  of  relief  as  were  proposed  by  their  offi- 
cials. They  opened  the  way  for  an  increase  of 
fifty  cents  in  the  tax  rate  which  becomes  avail- 
able for  the  first  time  in  1921,  and  they  voted  four 
millions  of  dollars  in  bonds  for  the  purpose  of 
providing  additional  school  facilities,  additional 
fire  protection,  an  auditorium  and  a  new  city  hall. 
Such  measures  of  financial  relief  and  such  pro- 
vision for  public  buildings  would  never  have  been 
provided  under  the  trying  conditions  then  pre- 
vailing but  for  the  fact  that  the  majority  of  people 
knew  all  about  their  government  and  were  satis- 
fied that  wisdom  and  economy  would  be  exercised 
in  handling  these  largely  increased  sums.  Thus  it 
has  been  demonstrated  beyond  peradventure,  for 
the  comfort  of  those  w^ho  believe  in  the  intelligence 
of  the  average  American  voter  in  meeting  his 
civic  problems  that  knowledge  begets  confidence 

[  238  ] 


EEFORMING  THE  PUBLIC  DOLLAR 

and  that  confidence  makes  possible  the  achieve- 
ment of  large  undertakings  for  the  public  good. 


[  239  ] 


CHAPTER  XVII 

ROUTING  THE  EELUCTAKT  GEEM 

WHEN  the  cholera  epidemic  of  1873 
\dsited  Birmingham  there  were  no 
sewers,  and  the  first  water  works 
system  had  barely  reached  completion.  Practi- 
cally the  whole  population  was  served  from  wells 
which  furnished  clear  and  sparkling  water  but 
which  were  heavily  polluted,  surface  closets  being 
the  source  of  contamination.  The  origin  of  Asi- 
atic cholera  was  not  known  at  that  time,  and  the 
theory  arose  that  it  was  due  to  the  evil  sanitary 
surroundings.  Therefore  a  vigorous  campaign 
for  improved  conditions  was  launched,  and  co- 
incident therewith  was  a  general  abandonment  of 
well  water  for  drinking  purposes. 

The  well  which  served  more  people  than  any 
other  in  the  community  was  one  that  had  been 

[  240  ] 


EOUTING  THE  KELUCTANT  GERM 

provided  by  the  municipality  at  the  intersection 
of  Second  Avenue  and  Nineteenth  Street.  This 
well  was  the  Mecca  for  the  thirsty  for  blocks 
around,  while  farmers  from  far  and  near  slaked 
their  thirst  from  the  old  oaken  bucket  which  hung 
from  the  spindle.  When  the  epidemic  appeared 
the  health  authorities  became  suspicious  of  this 
well  and  caused  it  to  be  cleaned  out,  with  results 
that  interested  —  and  nauseated  —  the  commu- 
nity. Tin  cans,  broken  crockery,  decaying  pieces 
of  rope  and  many  other  articles  came  to  the  sur- 
face, along  with  a  cat  and  a  number  of  rats. 

That  water  so  beautiful  could  contain  so  much 
that  was  ugly  was  a  surprise  to  the  community, 
and  enterprising  individuals  who  had  begun  to 
haul  water  from  neighboring  springs  and  to  dis- 
pense it  at  five  cents  per  bucket  did  a  thriving 
business.  This  water  was  hauled  in  barrels  that 
had  done  duty  as  whiskey  containers,  and  one  of 
the  earliest  recollections  of  my  life  is  hearing  my 
mother,  an  uncompromising  opponent  of  the  liquor 
traffic,  complain  about  the  odor  of  whiskey  which 
clung  to  the  water  delivered  from  these  springs. 
Theoretically,  this  water  was  pure,  but  in  the 
light  of  subsequent  discoveries  this  theory  is 
shown  to  have  been  unfounded.  It,  too,  was 
polluted. 

What  the  people  of  that  period  seem  not  to  have 
[  241  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

realized  was  that  the  limestone  mth  which  the 
valley  is  so  thickly  strewn  offers  little  protection 
against  seepage  from  points  of  pollution.  So  they 
drank  the  spring  water,  and  when  the  fright 
caused  by  the  cholera  had  subsided  returned  again 
to  the  wells.  At  that  time  the  construction  of  cess- 
pools was  permitted,  a  bad  situation  being  inten- 
sified by  this  practice. 

However,  the  necessity  of  sewers  had  become 
recognized  and  a  substantial  beginning  was  made 
in  this  direction.  The  water  works  system  also 
was  hurried  to  completion  and  was  ready  for 
service  about  the  time  the  epidemic  subsided.  But 
for  a  long  while  only  a  limited  number  availed 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  obtain  water 
from  this  source. 

With  the  passing  of  the  alarm  created  at  this 
time,  there  developed  an  indifference  to  sanitary 
matters  that  was  due  in  part  to  the  then  limited 
knowledge  of  bacteria  and  its  influence  upon  the 
physical  being,  but  more  largely  to  the  fact  that 
the  community  was  experiencing  a  period  of  ex- 
traordinary stress.  The  whole  nation  was  in  the 
throes  of  a  benumbing  panic  and  the  local  situa- 
tion scarcely  could  have  been  worse.  Life  in 
Birmingham  had  become  a  fight  for  bare  existence, 
and  there  was  some  excuse  for  the  failures  of  that 
period.    But  what  can  be  said  in  extenuation  when 

[242  ] 


EOUTING  THE  RELUCTANT  GERM 

the  conditions  existing  up  to  a  few  years  ago  are 
considered?  What  excuse  can  be  offered  for  the 
fact  that  for  years  Birmingham  held  the  unenvi- 
able  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  most  noted 
centers  of  typhoid  in  America?  Cases  numbered 
from  three  to  five  hundred  a  year,  and  practically 
no  attention  was  paid  to  it  by  the  general  public. 
Physicians  voiced  their  complaints  and  sounded 
their  notes  of  warning,  but  these  warnings  re- 
ceived scant  notice. 

This  condition  ran  on  until  1917,  when  an  epi- 
demic of  unusual  violence  broke  upon  the  city, 
prostrating  hundreds  within  a  few  weeks.  This 
epidemic  was  traced  to  an  outside  source  and  local 
causes  were  contributory  only,  but  it  had  the  eif  ect 
of  causing  a  great  awakening  to  the  evils  of  an 
ancient  situation  and  a  sustained  effort  to  eradi- 
cate the  disease. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  something  like  eight 
thousand  old-fashioned  surface  closets  existed  in 
Birmingham  chiefly  in  unsewered  sections,  and 
Dr.  R.  M.  Cunningham,  ex-Governor  of  the  State, 
who  was  city  health  officer  at  the  time  of  the  epi- 
demic, had  made  repeated  efforts  to  eradicate 
these  sources  of  danger  but  without  success.  He 
uttered  repeated  warnings  concerning  what  would 
happen,  and  when  his  predictions  were  verified  he 
threw  up  the  job.     Dr.  Cecil  Gaston,  a  young 

[  243  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIKMINGHAM 

physician  who  subsequently  rendered  conspicuous 
service  in  the  hospitals  of  France  during  the 
World  War,  was  called  to  the  position  temporarily, 
and  the  assistance  of  the  United  States  Health 
Service  was  enlisted.  Dr.  Lumsden,  of  the  Sur- 
geon General's  staff,  came  here  in  person,  accom- 
panied by  a  corps  of  specialists,  and  in  a  short 
time  the  epidemic  was  mastered. 

In  the  meantime  a  plan  for  the  elimination  of 
all  old-type  surface  closets  had  been  worked  out 
by  the  Commissioner  of  Health,  and  the  legisla- 
tion necessary  to  its  execution  was  obtained.  This 
plan  gave  the  city  the  right  to  put  in  sanitary  im- 
provements wherever  needed  and  to  assess  the 
cost  against  the  property,  the  bill  being  a  first  lien 
thereon.  Under  this  system,  the  proper  sanita- 
tion of  the  city  progressed  with  great  rapidity,  the 
result  being  a  tremendous  decrease  in  typhoid. 
While  Birmingham  is  not  entirely  free  from  the 
disease,  it  may  be  said  that  the  vanishing  point  is 
approaching.  That  it  will  disappear  is  certain, 
but  before  the  reform  can  be  absolute  the  sewer- 
age system  of  the  city  must  be  enlarged.  Plans 
for  initial  enlargements  are  approaching  comple- 
tion, and  the  work  will  be  under  way  in  the  next 
few  months.  The  completion  of  the  task  will  in- 
volve expenditures  running  into  the  millions,  but 
with  the  start  now  being  made  there  is  every 

[  244  ] 


ROUTING  THE   EELUCTANT   GERM 

reason  to  believe  that  the  improvements  will  be 
carried  through  in  the  next  few  years. 

The  matter  of  safeguarding  the  milk  supply 
also  has  been  given  exhaustive  consideration,  and 
Birmingham  has  in  force  regulatory  measures  em- 
bracing the  most  advanced  thought  upon  this  im- 
portant phase  of  health  conservation. 

This  long  deferred  awakening  to  the  import- 
ance of  health  as  a  community  asset  and  the  con- 
sequent activities  in  the  suppression  of  typhoid 
fever  has  had  an  effect  that  reaches  far  beyond  the 
original  cause.  Birmingham  has  ceased  to  talk  in 
whispers  about  the  social  disease  or  to  attempt  a 
diagnosis  in  the  dark.  This  disease  has  been 
brought  out  into  the  clear  light  of  day  and  its  sup- 
pression has  become  the  avowed  object  of  a  strong 
organization  of  patriotic  men  and  women.  An  in- 
tensive educational  campaign  is  being  conducted, 
and  the  health  authorities  are  receiving  the  most 
cordial  co-operation  in  their  efforts  to  minimize 
the  evil. 

Here  quack  nostrums  for  the  treatment  of  social 
disease  are  under  strict  prohibition.  Druggists 
are  not  allowed  to  handle  remedies  or  to  attempt 
cures.  As  a  consequence,  the  victim  must  consult 
a  physician,  and  the  law  is  such  that  once  a  treat- 
ment is  undertaken  a  cure  must  be  affected  before 
the  patient  is  discharged.     The  physician  must 

[  245  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

report  every  case,  the  patient  being  designated  by 
a  number.  If  a  cure  results,  then  the  matter  ends ; 
but  if  the  patient  fails  to  continue  the  treatment 
until  well  his  name  is  reported  to  the  Health  De- 
partment and  an  officer  sees  that  the  treatment  is 
carried  to  completion. 

For  notorious  women  a  detention  hospital  is 
provided,  and  here  the  patients  are  forced  to  take 
the  cure.  It  is  interesting  to  note  in  this  connec- 
tion that  the  detention  hospital  is  in  a  building 
the  use  of  which  is  donated  by  a  woman  who,  be- 
fore the  abolishment  of  the  red-light  district  years 
ago,  operated  it  as  a  house  of  ill  repute.  Thus  a 
fountain  of  disease  has  become  a  spring  of  healing. 

Endowed  with  a  climate  that  is  delightful  be- 
cause of  the  absence  of  extremes  and  sur- 
rounded by  natural  conditions  which  make  for 
healthfulness,  Birmingham  maintained  a  low 
death  rate  in  spite  of  its  high  typhoid  record, 
and  with  the  reduction  of  this  disease  and 
the  general  improvement  brought  about  by  the 
health  crusade  of  the  past  few  years,  this  record 
has  become  even  more  favorable.  In  a  few 
years  the  city  should  come  into  prominence  as 
a  health  resort.  Its  mountains  attain  a  height  of 
as  much  as  twelve  hundred  feet  above  sea  level, 
and  with  an  invigorating  atmsophere  that  swells 
the  lungs  and  with  a  view  of  magnificent  distances 

[  246  ] 


EOUTING  THE   RELUCTANT   GERM 

that  swells  the  soul  it  should  make  a  powerful 
appeal  to  those  whose  quest  is  length  of  days. 

Expenditures  by  the  city  and  county  for  health 
conservation  have  increased  during  the  past  ^Ye 
years  from  about  $20,000  a  year  to  nearly  $200,000, 
one  of  the  results  being  the  creation  of  a  thor- 
oughly equipped  laboratory  which  serves  both  the 
city  and  the  county. 

Hospitals  and  infirmaries  in  and  about  Birming- 
ham are  numerous,  well  equipped  and  attractive 
from  an  architectural  viewpoint,  but  their  number 
is  not  sufficient  to  meet  the  needs,  because  of  the 
great  influx  of  patients  from  other  parts  of  the 
State.  The  central  location  of  the  city,  its  excel- 
lent railroad  facilities  and  the  superior  character  of 
its  hospitals  and  infirmaries  serve  to  make  Birm- 
ingham to  Alabamians  what  the  Pool  of  Siloam 
was  to  some  of  the  ancients,  and  the  ill  and  in- 
jured come  here  in  large  numbers.  The  Birming- 
ham Infirmary,  the  South  Highlands  Infirmary, 
the  Norwood  Infirmary,  the  Davis  Infirmary,  the 
McAdory  Infirmary  and  the  Talley  Infirmary  are 
chief  among  the  institutions  of  this  character, 
while  the  Hillman,  the  St.  Vincent's  and  the  Ten- 
nessee are  the  major  hospitals.  The  latter,  a  mag- 
nificent three  million  dollar  enterprise,  is  not  open 
to  the  general  public,  but  cares  for  many  em- 
ployees of  industrial  agencies  through  the  district. 

[  247] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

There  is  a  children's  hospital  of  limited  facili- 
ties, and  a  tuberculosis  hospital  of  inadequate  pro- 
portions located  on  Red  Mountain.  Definite  plans 
for  the  erection  of  a  new  and  modem  building  to 
house  the  last-named  institution  have  been  for- 
mulated, but  progress  toward  fruition  is  slow  and 
the  community  justly  may  be  charged  with  laxity 
in  this  matter.  A  hospital  for  the  treatment  of 
contagious  diseases  is  lacking,  and  this  constitutes 
another  shortcoming  that  is  notable. 

The  excuse  for  such  failures  as  exist  in  Birm- 
ingham is  youth.  The  problems  of  sanitation  and 
drainage  and  of  providing  for  the  elementary 
necessities  of  a  rapidly  growing  community  have 
been  enormous,  and  the  public  revenues  have  never 
kept  pace  with  the  demands.  The  surprising  thing 
is  not  that  some  important  tasks  have  been  left 
undone,  but  that  so  much  has  been  accomplished. 

The  drainage  problem  has  called  for  vast  expen- 
ditures, and  millions  yet  must  be  spent  before  the 
storm  water  is  adequately  handled.  The  valley  in 
which  the  city  is  built  has  a  fall  so  gradual  as  to 
be  almost  imperceptible,  and  a  canal  extending 
many  miles  beyond  the  city  limits  must  be  pro- 
vided before  the  rainwater,  rushing  down  from 
the  mountains,  can  be  carried  off  promptly  and 
effectively.  A  great  sanitary  sewer  extending 
through  the  valley  has  been  built  by  the  county, 

[  248  ] 


EOUTING  THE   RELUCTANT   GERM 

but  Birmingham  lias  much  the  same  system  in  the 
business  section  that  it  had  thirty  years  ago 
when  its  population  was  not  one-tenth  what  it  is 
today.  This  is  the  system  which  is  to  be  rebuilt 
now,  but  little  has  been  done  toward  solving  the 
storm  sewer  problem  beyond  making  surveys. 
The  city  has  storm  sewers,  as  a  matter-of-course, 
the  difficulty  being  that  there  is  no  adequate  outlet. 
However,  the  fact  that  matters  used  to  be  much 
worse  is  illustrated  by  a  story  told  by  Major  W.  B. 
Leedy,  a  pioneer  citizen,  who  presided  over  the 
destinies  of  one  of  the  numerous  stock  exchanges 
that  flourished  here  in  the  boom  days. 

The  practice  of  the  boomers  was  to  buy  up 
acreage  somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  Birmingham, 
organize  a  land  company  with  fabulous  amounts 
of  stock,  and  throw  this  stock  upon  the  market. 
Excitement  during  that  boom  which  came  along  in 
the  eighties  reached  a  state  of  frenzy  the  equal 
of  which  rarely  has  been  witnessed,  and  the  mobs 
about  the  stock  exchange  would  buy  anything  that 
was  offered  —  so  long  as  values  leaped  upward. 
When  the  bottom  dropped  out  and  many  began  to 
investigate  their  holdings  some  melancholy  dis- 
appointments awaited  them.  *'I  went  with  one 
man  to  see  what  he  had  bought  through  a  rival 
•exchange,"  said  Major  Leedy,  *'and  when  he 
viewed  the  water  under  which  the  land  reposed  he 

[  249  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

sighed  and  remarked,  'I  guess  we  fellows  who 
bought  this  place  will  have  to  raise  frogs  and 
utilize  the  hops  for  the  manufacture  of  beer/  '' 

That  low-lying  section,  then  far  outside  the  city 
limits,  since  has  become  a  part  of  Birmingham,  and 
today  is  a  busy  and  populous  industrial  commu- 
nity, troubled  by  water  occasionally,  but  in  no  such 
condition  as  when  its  soggy  and  abandoned  acres 
proved  the  undoing  of  certain  money-mad  gam- 
blers. So  progress  has  been  made  in  meeting  the 
drainage  situation,  but  mastery  of  it  remains  for 
the  future. 

In  the  matter  of  health  conservation  the  women 
of  Birmingham  have  been  the  chief  crusaders. 
They  prepared  and  caused  to  be  passed  the  first 
food  inspection  ordinance,  their  services  in  this 
connection  being  recognized  by  the  appointment 
of  a  woman  as  chief  food  inspector.  They  fought 
for  adequate  laws  to  safeguard  the  milk  supply, 
and  now  are  engaged  in  an  ambitious  effort  to 
minimize  the  social  disease. 

However,  the  activities  of  Birmingham  women 
have  been  in  no  wise  limited  to  civic  reforms.  It 
is  doubtful  if  in  any  community  there  can  be  found 
a  larger  percentage  of  women  active  in  commercial 
and  industrial  life. 

The  fourth  largest  association  of  business 
women  in  America  is  found  in  this  city,  which 

[  250  ] 


EOUTING  THE   EELUCTANT   GERM 

furnishes  conclusive  evidence  that  women  have  an 
important  part  in  the  development  of  the  material 
side  of  the  community. 

Ina  Shepherd  is  the  manager  of  the  Birming- 
ham Clearing  House  Association,  enjoying  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  the  only  woman  holding  a  like 
position  in  the  United  States.  Business  ability 
seems  to  run  in  the  family,  too,  for  she  has  a 
sister  who  occupies  an  important  position  in  the 
office  of  the  City  Comptroller,  and  another  sister 
is  Assistant  City  Clerk. 

The  business  women  of  Alabama  maintain  a 
State  organization,  and  the  president,  Mrs.  H.  E. 
Pearoe,  has  a  large  business  of  her  own  in  this 
city,  which  she  directs  while  discharging  the  duties 
of  postmaster  of  a  neighboring  town. 

Well  appointed  headquarters  are  maintained  by 
the  business  women,  where  the  members  may  find 
rest  and  refreshment,  and  where  topics  of  interest 
are  discussed  by  speakers  of  note.  A  virile  and 
enthusiastic  organization,  the  Business  Women's 
League,  is  doing  much  to  foster  the  interest  of 
the  women  who  lend  their  talents  to  the  upbuild- 
ing of  commerce  and  industry  in  this  district. 

In  the  field  of  civic  endeavor,  women  had  won 

recognition  long  before  the  ballot  was  obtained 

under  the   Nineteenth  Amendment.     For  years 

women  have  had  representation  upon  the  Board  of 

[  251  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

Education  of  the  city  and  county,  and  upon  the 
Library  Board  of  the  city.  Similar  representa- 
tion is  found  on  the  Art  Committee,  created  by 
the  governing  body  of  the  city  to  advise  in  the 
development  of  the  city  beautiful  idea,  and  upon 
the  Auditorium  Committee,  which  was  created  to 
assist  in  planning  Birmingham's  splendid  new 
auditorium,  now  in  course  of  erection. 

The  head  of  the  Department  of  Child  Hygiene 
of  the  city  is  a  woman,  and  the  supervision  of 
theatrical  and  motion  picture  performances  by  the 
municipality  is  in  charge  of  a  woman. 

In  works  of  relief  and  correction,  women  have 
been  pre-eminent.  They  founded  and  for  years 
have  fostered  a  refuge  for  the  care  of  homeless 
children;  a  home  for  wayward  girls;  a  home  for 
aged  women;  a  hospital  for  children,  and  numer- 
ous other  institutions  whose  value  to  the  com- 
munity is  inestimable.  They  built  up  a  splendid 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  and  per- 
formed many  other  services  to  the  struggling 
girls  of  the  community. 

As  may  be  inferred,  the  presence  of  a  really 
fine  moral  atmosphere,  in  contrast  to  the  loose 
conditions  which  existed  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago,  has  been  largely  the  result  of  ceaseless  ac- 
tivity upon  the  part  of  women.  Though  without 
the  ballot,  they  were  the  dominant  factor  in  ban- 
•        [  252  ] 


EOUTING  THE   RELUCTANT   GERM 

ishing  the  saloons,  first  from  Birmingliam,  and 
then  from  the  State. 

The  Boys'  Industrial  School  and  the  Girls'  In- 
dustrial School,  both  of  which  have  become  State 
Institutions  and  are  playing  a  vital  part  in  cor- 
recting the  wayward  tendencies  of  the  young,  were 
started  in  this  city  by  women ;  women  who  were 
not  satisfied  to  provide  such  retreats  for  the  boys 
and  girls  of  their  own  community,  but  labored  on 
until  the  beneficial  influence  of  these  institutions 
embraced  the  whole  commonwealth.  The  Boys' 
Industrial  School  was  established  years  ago 
through  the  tireless  labors  of  Mrs.  R.  D.  Johnston, 
whose  fight  for  the  wayward  boys  of  Alabama  did 
much  to  arouse  the  people  to  the  evils  which  ex- 
isted at  a  time  when  there  were  no  child  labor 
laws,  and  no  child  conscience  among  those  who 
controlled  the  destinies  of  the  State.  She  created 
a  public  conscience  on  this  score,  and  thus  opened 
the  way  for  the  progress  which  since  has  been 
made  in  safeguarding  the  children  of  the  poor 
whose  feet  had  not  gone  astray,  and  in  doing  a 
great  constructive  work  in  behalf  of  those  who, 
though  erring,  may  be  led  into  paths  of  usefulness. 

The  Girls'  School,  founded  years  later  through 
the  labors  of  Mrs.  Sam  Weakley,  is  performing  a 
similar  service  for  the  girls  of  the  State,  after 

[253  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

leading  for  years  a  struggling  existence  as  a  local 
institution. 

The  woman  whose  patient  endeavor  resulted  in 
the  founding  of  the  Mercy  Home,  a  refuge  for 
friendless  children,  which  has  been  in  successful 
operation  for  over  twenty  years,  is  Mrs.  C.  B. 
Spencer.  The  Octavia  White  Home  for  aged 
women,  and  the  Eva  B.  Comer  Home  for  working 
girls,  furnish  further  evidence  of  the  zeal  of 
Birmingham  women  for  the  welfare  of  human 
kind.  Through  their  labors  the  Golden  Rule  has 
been  made  concrete. 


[  254  ] 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

FREAKS  OF  FRETFUL  NATURE 

THOUSANDS  of  years  ago,  before  the  earth 
decided  upon  a  radical  re-arrangement  of 
its  surface  in  that  territory  destined  to 
form  the  Land  of  the  Free  and  the  Home  of  the 
Brave,  the  section  now  constituting  the  mineral 
district  of  Alabama  was  a  vast  plain,  thoroughly 
on  the  level  but  altogether  uninteresting. 

Had  the  geologist  been  known  in  that  remote 
period,  and  had  he  been  sent  to  investigate  this 
district,  he  might  well  have  made  some  such  re- 
port as  this  to  the  Exalted  Ruler  of  whatever 
empire  he  happened  to  represent: 

**It  affords  me  great  pleasure,  0  King,  to  have 
the  privilege  of  conveying  to  your  Most  Excellent 
Highness  the  information  that  your  humble  ser- 
vant has  completed  his  investigations  of  the  plain 

[  255  ] 


THE  BOOK  OP  BIRMINGHAM 

about  whicli  he  was  directed  to  obtain  all  avail- 
able information,  and  he  craves  the  honor  of  sub- 
mitting herewith  the  result  of  his  findings: 

*^If  your  Excellency  will  picture  in  your  mind 
an  immense  layer  cake,  such  as  mother  used  to 
make,  a  fairly  accurate  idea  of  what  I  shall  at- 
tempt to  describe  may  be  obtained.  For  the  top 
layer,  which  usually  is  coated  white  with  some 
sweet  confection,  imagine  a  great  waste  of  sand, 
practically  level.  This  sand  coat  covers  about 
half  of  the  territory  which  will  become  known  as 
Alabama,  following  the  founding  of  that  great 
country  to  be  known  as  the  United  States  of 
America. 

*^  Beneath  the  layer  of  sand,  and  extending  to 
a  great  depth,  is  a  layer  of  conglomerate  material 
which  might  be  described  as  of  the  earth  earthy. 
Then,  like  golden  coins  in  a  wedding  cake,  come 
layers  of  great  value  —  layers  of  coal,  of  iron  ore 
and  of  rock,  such  as  limestone  and  dolomite,  which 
will  prove  to  be  excellent  fluxing  materials  when 
tossed  within  reach  of  the  men  who  are  to  build 
furnaces  in  the  city  which  is  tc  be  founded  here 
and  which  will  be  known  as  Birmingham. 

*^  These  layers  of  minerals  are  far  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  plain,  the  iron  ore  being  perhaps 
a  mile  below  the  spot  where  I  have  pitched  my 
tent,  and  the  possibility  of  these  materials  be- 

[  256  ] 


FREAKS  OF  FRETFUL  NATURE 

coming  useful  factors  in  the  industrial  life  of  the 
world  would  be  very  remote  but  for  the  fact  that 
nature  plans  some  extraordinary  convulsions  in 
this  vicinity.  During  this  process,  the  lower  lay- 
ers of  our  cake  will  be  pushed  to  the  top,  where 
man  may  reach  and  do  with  them  what  he  will. 

**A11  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted,  with  the 
hope  that  the  shadow  of  your  Highness  will  never 
grow  less." 

With  this  report  before  us,  it  becomes  neces- 
sary merely  to  record  that  the  **  convulsion  of 
nature"  occurred  in  due  season,  resulting  in  great 
sections  of  the  extraordinary  mineral  cake  being 
pushed  to  the  surface.  This  convulsion  became 
known  as  the  Appalachian  revolution,  and  the 
best  friend  of  the  North  American  continent  would 
not  have  recognized  it  after  the  completion  of 
the  pushing  process.  A  chain  of  mountains  was 
thrown  up,  extending  from  Canada  to  Central 
Alabama,  and  in  this  quarter  the  once  level  land 
became  as  choppy  as  a  storm-tossed  sea. 

A  quantity  of  the  iron  in  the  cake  of  the  ancient 
geologist  was  thrown  up  to  become  Red  Mountain, 
while  segments  of  iron  and  coal  flew  hither  and 
yon,  creating  a  sort  of  marble-cake  effect,  when 
viewed  in  connection  with  the  numerous  and  far- 
reaching  slabs  of  limestone  and  dolomite  that  were 
tossed  about. 

[257] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

One  might  infer  that  this  disposition  of  the 
minerals  made  their  utilization  a  sort  of  holiday 
enterprise,  and  much  that  has  been  written  tends 
to  perpetuate  an  impression  of  this  Mnd,  but 
candor  compels  the  admission  that  certain  diffi- 
culties stood  in  the  way;  difficulties  that  required 
the  utmost  ingenuity  and  perseverence  to  over- 
come, even  in  part. 

As  an  illustration,  consider  the  coal  vein.  The 
prospector  finds  a  beautiful  slice  of  that  old-time 
layer  cake,  and  bores  into  it  gleefully.  Ton  after 
ton  of  the  shining  black  stuff  is  dug  out  and  hauled 
to  the  surface,  and  everything  is  going  lovely. 
Then,  on  some  melancholy  day,  the  end  comes 
with  startling  abruptness.  The  coal  gives  out  and 
a  wall  of  rock  stands  in  the  way. 

This  means  that  a  ^^fault"  has  been  reached, 
and  not  that  the  mine  has  to  be  abandoned,  for 
the  owner  knows  that  a  continuation  of  the  layer 
he  has  been  working  is  somewhere  in  the  vicinity. 
He  begins,  therefore,  to  bore  and  to  dig  until  he 
finds  the  continuation.  Sometimes  it  is  found 
fifty  feet  higher  up,  sometimes  a  hundred  feet 
lower  down.  Then  the  intervening  rock  must  be 
cut  away,  and  the  new  deposit  of  coal  linked  up 
with  the  openings  into  the  old. 

A  striking  illustration  of  how  these  once  uni- 
form layers  of  coal  were  broken  up  by  the  Ap- 

[258] 


FREAKS  OF  FBETFUL  NATURE 

palachian  revolution  may  be  observed  at  the 
Edgewater  mines  of  the  Tennessee  Company, 
opened  in  1911.  Here  there  is  a  difference  of  one 
hundred  feet  in  the  two  levels,  nature  having,  at 
this  point,  broken  the  layer  of  coal  squarely  in 
two  and  thrust  one  section  high  up,  while  de- 
positing the  other  a  hundred  feet  lower  down. 
Then,  as  if  determined  to  create  just  as  much 
confusion  as  possible  in  the  brain  of  the  mining 
engineer,  she  varied  the  process  further  along  by 
tossing  one  side  of  the  lower  strata  high  up,  and 
burying  the  opposite  side  of  the  higher  strata  deep 
in  the  earth. 

At  the  mine  in  question,  the  problem  of  hauling 
coal  from  the  two  levels  was  mastered  by  digging 
vertical  shafts  side  by  side.  Elevators  operate  in 
these  shafts,  suspended  by  steel  cables  that  pass 
over  immense  drums,  so  arranged  that  one  elevator 
moves  more  rapidly  than  the  other,  resulting  in 
the  separate  lifts  reaching  their  separate  under- 
ground destinations  at  the  same  moment,  though 
standing  side  by  side  when  on  the  surface. 

Next  to  the  Bayview  mine,  owned  by  the  same 
company,  Edgewater  is  the  most  modern  mine  in 
Alabama.  The  coal  when  brought  up  from  the 
two  levels  at  the  same  moment,  is  dumped  directly 
upon  a  conveyor  which  carries  it  to  the  crusher, 
the  rock  and  slate  being  picked  out  while  the  coal 

[  259  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIKMINGHAM 

is  in  transit.  From  the  cmslier,  the  coal  goes 
to  the  washer,  where  it  undergoes  a  three-fold 
process  of  separation,  the  best  being  dumped  into 
cars  which  stand  below  the  washer.  This  coal  is 
hauled  to  the  by-product  plant  for  conversion  into 
coke.  The  inferior,  or  steam  coal,  is  dumped  on 
the  ground  for  use  in  a  pumping  plant  that  stands 
nearby,  and  from  which  flows  the  great  volume  of 
water  required  in  the  operation  of  the  furnaces, 
steel  mills  and  by-product  plants,  which  form  a 
vast  chain  of  industries  in  that  territory. 

In  addition  to  playing  all  kinds  of  tricks  with 
the  coal  seams,  nature,  as  if  repenting  of  her  prod- 
igality in  this  district,  proceeded  to  throw  a  bit 
too  much  stone,  sulphur  and  ash  into  the  coal 
mixture,  thereby  making  extra  work  for  the  chem- 
ists and  metallurgists,  and  presenting  all  sorts  of 
complications  when  the  effort  was  made  to  do  with 
this  coal  what  was  being  done  with  coals  of  Illinois, 
Ohio,  Pennsylvania  and  West  Virginia. 

These  facts  are  recited  for  the  purpose  of  show- 
ing that  the  tremendous  development  brought 
about  in  the  coal  fields  of  Alabama  meant  real 
work  on  the  part  of  real  men.  This  field  is  not 
and  has  never  been  a  place  for  weaklings.  As 
the  pioneers  had  to  struggle  and  scheme,  first  to 
find  a  process  for  making  coke  out  of  Alabama 
coal,  and  then  for  some  means  of  converting  Ala- 

[  260  ] 


FEEAKS  OF  FRETFUL  NATUEE 

bama  iron  into  steel,  so  the  men  who  are  at  work 
today  in  developing  the  resources  of  the  district 
have  to  battle  with  difficulties  all  along  the  way. 
The  thing  that  makes  possible  their  triumphs  — 
and  their  triumphs  have  been  numerous  and  of 
far-reaching  significance  —  is  the  proximity  of  the 
materials  with  which  they  work. 

As  the  coal  plays  queer  freaks,  so  with  the  ore, 
and  here,  too,  the  call  is  for  resourcefulness  and 
ingenuity.  Instead  of  the  ore  being  deposited  on 
the  surface  in  great  pits,  as  is  the  case  in  some 
quarters,  it  lies  in  veins  which  must  be  followed 
far  into  the  earth,  in  some  instances  necessitating 
frequent  supports  for  overhanging  roof,  and  long 
lines  of  narrow-gauge  roads  for  hauling  the  ore 
to  the  surface.  And  when  delivered  to  the  surface, 
this  ore  cannot  be  expected  to  produce,  ton  for 
ton,  as  much  iron  as  is  produced  in  fields  where 
the  metallic  content  is  greater.  It  is  not  a  strictly 
high  grade  ore,  and  the  fact  that  it  is  made  to 
produce  a  high  grade  steel  furnishes  an  excellent 
testimonial  to  the  skill  and  resourcefulness  of  the 
men  who  smelt  it  and  work  the  product  into  su- 
perior metal. 

The  quality  of  Birmingham  steel  having  been 
established,  and  the  metal  being  accepted  without 
question,  the  development  of  the  industry  has  be- 
come one  of  demand  in  the  territory  which  best 

[  261  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

may  be  served  from  Birmingham.  This  includes  a 
large  part  of  the  South,  Mexico,  Central  and  South 
America,  and  countries  lying  beyond  the  Panama 
Canal. 

Steel  is  a  general  term,  like  fruit  or  vegetables. 
There  are  many  kinds  of  fruit  and  a  great  variety 
of  vegetables,  and  this  also  is  true  of  steel.  When 
one  wishes  to  be  specific  about  the  price  of  fruit 
or  vegetables,  he  asks  **How  much  are  oranges?'' 
or  ^^What  is  the  price  of  cabbage?"  And  so  one 
must  be  specific  when  it  comes  to  steel.  The 
question  **How  much  is  steel  selling  for?"  might 
be  answered  in  a  thousand  different  ways.  A 
pound  of  watch  springs  is  worth  about  $4,000, 
while  a  pound  of  bar  steel  is  worth  about  two 
cents.  Between  these  extremes  are  many  inter- 
mediate grades,  representing  varying  products. 

The  production  of  steel  involves  the  production 
of  an  ingot  —  a  rough,  box-like  slab  which  passes 
white-hot  into  the  rollers  to  emerge  in  the  shape 
best  adapted  to  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  in- 
tended. 

A  steel  ingot  varies  in  composition  in  accord- 
ance with  the  kind  and  quality  of  steel  to  be  made 
from  it,  as  dough  varies  according  to  what  is  ex- 
pected to  come  from  the  oven.  Generally  speak- 
ing, the  cost  of  the  ingot  does  not  as  a  rule  vary 
between  different  localities  as  much  as  does  the 

[  262  ] 


FEEAKS  OP  FRETFUL  NATURE 

cost  of  the  product  into  wliicli  it  is  converted. 
The  cost  of  converting  an  ingot  into  a  steel  bar 
may  vary  as  much  as  two  or  three  times  in  amount, 
depending  upon  the  volume  of  business  and  the 
degree  to  which  specialization  in  rolling  is  made 
possible. 

The  simplest  form  of  mill  for  rolling  steel  bars 
is  that  which  is  known  to  the  craft  as  a  **  Merchant 
Mill.'*  This  mill  has  a  range  of  sizes  greater  than 
is  possessed  by  other  types,  and  one  of  fair  pro- 
portions will  roll  approximately  2,500  tons  of  steel 
bars  per  month.  By  *^  range '*  is  meant  the  size 
of  the  product  coming  from  the  rolls,  the  size 
varying,  as  a  matter  of  course,  according  to  the 
character  of  the  orders  on  hand.  The  production 
of  varying  sizes  and  shapes  by  the  same  mill  is 
made  possible  through  the  substitution  of  rolls. 
A  set  of  rolls  having  the  shape  of  the  familiar 
rolling  pin  with  which  every  kitchen  is  equipped 
would  produce  flat  steel,  but  take  the  same  rollers 
and  cut  a  half  circle  in  them,  and  they  will  pro- 
duce round  bars,  the  size  being  determined  by 
the  size  of  the  completed  circle.  The  process  is 
not  quite  so  simple  as  this  might  appear,  since 
the  shapes  are  not  produced  by  a  single  set  of  rolls, 
but  this  will  serve  to  give  some  idea  of  the  way 
in  which  the  Merchant  Mill  functions  in  converting 
the  ingot  into  the  steel  shape. 

[  263  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

To  the  novice  there  are  few  things  more  won- 
derful than  to  watch  the  operation  of  one  of  these 
mills,  equipped  with  its  many  pairs  of  gigantic 
** rolling  pins/'  The  steel  ingot,  usually  about 
twenty  inches  square  and  six  feet  long,  rushes 
upon  the  first  set  of  rollers  and  is  squeezed 
through,  being  flattened  somewhat  in  the  passage. 
Immediately  upon  leaving  the  rolls,  the  ingot  re- 
verses its  course  and  returns  for  another  squeeze. 
As  it  rushes  back  to  the  starting  point,  it  is  turned 
on  edge  and  darts  again  through  the  rolls.  This 
process  continues  until  the  girth  has  been  con- 
siderably reduced  and  the  length  greatly  extended. 
Then  the  mass  moves  on  to  other  rolls,  continu- 
ing the  journey  until  it  is  more  than  a  hundred 
feet  in  length.  The  ragged  ends  are  then  cut  oif 
by  giant  blades,  and  the  bar  is  ready  for  the  finish- 
ing rolls.  Still  hot  and  pliable,  it  reaches  the  rolls 
where  the  final  shape  is  to  be  given,  and  presently 
is  transformed  into  a  steel  rail  of  enormous  length. 
This  rail  is  then  sawed  into  standard  sizes  for 
railroad  building,  the  sawing  process  creating  a 
fireworks  display  that  would  be  creditable  to  any 
Fourth  of  July  celebration.  Then  the  rails  are 
ready  for  straightening,  cooling  and  drilling. 
After  passing  through  these  processes,  the  rails 
are  ready  for  delivery  to  the  railroad  builder,  and 
giant  electric  magnets  pick  them  up  and  load  them 

[264  ] 


FREAKS  OF  FRETFUL  NATURE 

upon  the  flat  cars  that  stand  in  long  lines  outside 
the  mill. 

The  rolls  upon  a  merchant  mill  are  changed 
to  meet  the  varying  demands.  And  herein  is  the 
difference  between  such  a  mill  and  the  mill  which 
is  termed  ** specialized.''  The  latter  is  built  in 
anticipation  of  enormous  orders  for  a  few  articles 
and  is  not  subject  to  constant  changes,  as  is  the 
merchant  mill.  Now  enters  the  tremendously  im- 
portant item  of  production  cost.  A  specialized 
mill,  being  subject  to  few  stoppages  for  changes, 
and  geared  to  meet  certain  predetermined  condi- 
tions, produces  a  much  larger  tonnage  than  is 
possible  with  a  merchant  mill.  Thus,  if  four  spe- 
cialized mills  are  provided,  each  to  turn  out  one- 
fourth  of  the  shapes  produced  by  the  more  flexible 
but  slower  merchant  mill,  these  four  plants  would 
be  capable  of  turning  out  10,000  tons  each  per 
month,  or  an  aggregate  of  40,000  tons,  as  com- 
pared to  the  2,500  tons  produced  by  the  merchant 
mill. 

The  initial  cost  of  the  specialized  mill  is  about 
twice  that  of  the  merchant  mill,  but  as  it  rolls 
about  four  times  the  tonnage,  the  investment  cost 
is  only  one-half  as  much  per  ton  produced. 

Where  the  market  for  steel  products  is  such 
that  specialized  mills  may  be  operated,  it  is  obvi- 
ous that  the  manufacturer  has  a  distinct  advan- 

[  265] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

tage  over  the  one  wliose  wide  range  of  products 
must  be  made  in  a  single  mill.  The  specialist  has 
cut  his  conversion  cost  half  in  two  and  has  per- 
formed the  same  operation  upon  his  investment 
cost.  At  the  same  time,  however,  he  has  created 
a  condition  under  which  he  must  produce  an 
enormously  greater  output  than  the  merchant  mill 
operator,  which  means  that  he  must  have  a  market 
whose  capacity  for  consumption  is  proportionately 
large.  Otherwise  he  loses  the  advantage  of  top- 
notch  production. 

The  wage  element  is  an  important  factor  in 
the  comparative  cost  of  operating  merchant  mills 
and  specialized  mills.  A  specialty  mill  running  at 
half  its  capacity  must  have  men  just  as  skilled  as 
those  employed  in  the  full-time  merchant  mill,  and 
it  cannot  maintain  a  lower  production  cost  under 
such  circumstances.    Its  job  is  to  keep  busy. 

Birmingham's  range  of  specialized  mills  is  not 
large  as  yet,  though  existing  plants  are  enormous 
in  extent.  The  encouraging  thing  is  that  such 
mills  are  found  at  all  in  a  district  so  new  to  the 
steel  industry.  Moreover,  they  are  prophetic  of 
new  conquests  in  the  markets  of  the  world.  They 
are  significant  of  the  time  when  the  nations  to  the 
South,  and  those  lying  beyond  the  Panama  Canal, 
will  have  an  adequate  appreciation  of  the  value 
of  steel ;  of  its  permanency,  of  its  adaptability  and 

[  266  ] 


FEEAKS  OF  FRETFUL  NATURE 

of  its  cheapness,  as  compared  to  the  more  perish- 
able products. 

The  measure  of  growth  Birmingham  has  at- 
tained as  a  steel  center  has  come  about  largely 
within  the  last  dozen  years,  expansion  upon  a 
huge  scale  beginning  with  the  entry  of  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation  upon  its  absorption  of 
the  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  &  Railroad  Company 
under  the  administration  of  President  Roosevelt. 
This  organization  has  spent  with  a  lavish  hand 
in  the  modernization  of  old  plants  and  in  the 
erection  of  new  ones,  and  under  its  progressive 
policy  the  district  has  grown  at  a  pace  which 
would  have  been  impossible  without  the  presence 
of  an  agency  so  well  equipped,  mentally  and 
financially,  to  master  the  production  problems  and 
meet  the  market  conditions  existing  in  this  terri- 
tory. 

Speaking  of  growth,  recalls  an  amusing  incident 
that  occurred  some  years  ago  at  a  dinner  attended 
by  the  representative  steel  men  of  America.  At 
that  time  both  Birmingham  and  Chicago  had  ex- 
tended their  corporate  limits  in  such  a  way  as  to 
take  in  considerable  territory,  and  this  fact  was 
fresh  in  the  mind  of  at  least  one  gentleman  pres- 
ent. During  the  evening  the  conversation  turned 
to  Birmingham  and  Chicago,  both  destined  to 
greatness  as  steel  centers,  and  much  was  said 

[  267  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

about  the  way  in  which  the  two  cities  were  grow- 
ing. After  listening  to  this  line  of  conversation 
for  some  time,  Frank  Bachus  arose  and  convulsed 
the  crowd  by  saying: 

''I  have  watched  the  growth  of  Birmingham  and 
Chicago  wdth  great  interest  and  have  gone  far 
enough  into  the  subject  to  give  some  absolutely 
accurate  figures.  These  figures  show  that  if  Birm- 
ingham and  Chicago  continue  to  grow  at  the  same 
percentage  for  the  next  fifty  years  as  they  have 
during  the  past  fifty  years  their  corporate  limits 
will  meet  at  Evansville,  Indiana!'' 

The  Birmingham  contingent  pretended  to  find 
some  satisfaction  in  the  delicate  suggestion  thus 
conveyed  that  this  city  was  *' growing''  a  bit  faster 
than  the  Illinois  metropolis,  even  though  the 
growth  was  territorial  rather  than  in  the  num- 
bers of  its  people. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  Birmingham's  limits  were 
extended  in  1910  to  include  a  number  of  near-by 
communities,  and  the  city  today  embraces  fifty 
square  miles.  At  that,  the  largest  industrial 
plants  are  not  within  the  corporate  limits  but  just 
outside,  the  lines  having  been  drawn  so  in  order 
to  relieve  these  huge  enterprises  of  the  burden 
of  municipal  taxation  and  at  the  same  time  lend 
encouragement  to  similar  enterprises  which  might 
be  induced  to  locate  in  this  territory. 
,  [  268  ] 


[  269  ] 


CHAPTER  XIX 


THE  TEETH  OF  A  CHH^D 


DURING-  the  preparation  of  tliis  work  I 
have  climbed  to  the  top  of  lofty  tip- 
ples where  the  coal  came  roaring  along 
in  an  endless  stream  and  where  the  earth  seemed 
to  tremble  as  the  crushers  crumbled  the  lumps  to 
dust.  I  have  stood  upon  the  peak  of  giant  wash- 
ers where  hundreds  of  tons  of  coal  were  hurried 
through  various  processes  by  endless  chains 
whose  wide  scoops  splashed  and  clanked  as  they 
swept  on  and  on;  I  have  been  deep  in  the  earth 
where  hundreds  of  men  bored  their  way  into  the 
jet  black  veins,  and  where  laden  cars  crashed  by 
hurrying  to  the  exits ;  I  have  stood  amid  the  heat 
and  din  of  giant  furnace  plants  and  have  watched 
the  serpentine  performance  of  great  bars  of  ruddy 
steel  as  they  twisted  and  squirmed  the  length  of 

[  270  ] 


THE  TEETH  OF  A  CHILD 

roaring  mills ;  I  have  seen  skyscrapers  and  stores 
of  vast  proportion  and  have  viewed  beautiful 
thoroughfares  and  magnificent  homes,  but  amid 
all  the  mighty  panorama  the  picture  most  vividly 
impressed  upon  my  mind  is  that  of  two  rows  of 
white  shining  teeth  between  two  ruddy,  laughing 
lips ;  the  teeth  and  the  lips  of  a  little  daughter  of 
the  mines. 

The  picture  presented  by  that  laughing  child 
lingers  because  it  is  significant  of  something  big, 
and  fine,  and  compelling;  something  that  is  more 
inspiring  than  all  the  mills  and  furnaces  and  sky- 
piercing  buildings  that  man  may  erect.  It  is  the 
token  of  a  high  purpose  upon  the  part  of  great 
industrial  agencies  to  put  first  the  conservation 
of  human  life  and  human  happiness;  the  visible 
expression  of  a  new-age  ideal  on  the  part  of 
employers. 

That  the  same  concern  which  bores  deep  into 
the  earth  to  bring  forth  coal ;  that  erects  huge  fur- 
naces and  operates  mills  and  factories  covering 
miles  of  ground,  and  which  pushes  its  trade  con- 
quests into  the  far  places  of  the  earth,  takes  time 
to  consider  the  teeth  of  a  little  child  is  a  develop- 
ment which  points  again  to  the  fact  that  the  fires 
in  the  heart  of  industrial  Birmingham  are  lighted 
from  the  soul. 

The  co-ordination  which  exists  in  this  field  of 
[  271  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

conservation  is  just  as  striking  and  just  as  efficient 
as  it  is  in  the  field  of  industrial  endeavor.  As 
inter-dependent  plants  have  been  located  in  a 
manner  which  guarantees  the  maximum  of  effi- 
ciency, so  every  step  in  the  great  scheme  of  safe- 
guarding human  beings  has  been  worked  out  with 
a  view  of  eliminating  lost  motion  and  to  achieving 
the  highest  possible  results. 

With  the  greatest  of  the  industrial  agencies  at 
work  in  the  Birmingham  district,  the  heart  of  the 
conservation  system  is  a  three  million  dollar  hos- 
pital, standing  upon  an  eminence  from  which  may 
be  viewed  the  wide  panorama  of  Birmingham. 
There  are  some  hospitals  in  America  larger  than 
this,  but  none  more  complete.  In  every  appoint- 
ment, from  the  huge  bakery  on  the  ground  floor 
rear  to  the  great,  tile-lined  operating  rooms  on 
the  upper  floor,  this  hospital  is  complete  in  the 
most  minute  detail.  The  evidence  of  lavish  ex- 
penditures is  seen  on  every  hand,  the  general 
effect  being  that  of  a  magnificent  hotel  rather  than 
a  place  to  care  for  the  ill  and  the  injured.  The 
wide,  sweeping  roof  of  the  structure  forms  an  out- 
door garden  where  the  convalescents  may  sit  or 
stroll  in  the  sunshine  and  feast  their  eyes  upon  a 
cyclorama  that  can  never  grow  tiresome.  A  valley 
teaming  with  life  is  spread  before  them,  while  in 
the  distance  vague  and  misty  hills  invite  and  rest 

[  272  ] 


THE   TEETH  OF  A  CHILD 

the  eye.  Dr.  Lloyd  Nolan,  a  distinguished  sur- 
geon, is  in  charge  of  this  hospital. 

Connected  with  this  central  hospital,  and  in  in- 
stant communication  therewith,  are  large  numbers 
of  emergency  hospitals  and  first-aid  stations,  these 
auxiliary  institutions  being  found  at  every  indus- 
trial plant,  at  every  mining  camp,  and  down  in  the 
mines  themselves. 

Injured  are  given  first-aid  treatment  in  these 
local  stations,  after  which,  if  the  hurts  are  seri- 
ous, they  are  placed  in  ambulances  and  hurried  to 
the  central  hospital,  there  to  receive  the  best  at- 
tention that  unlimited  means  can  provide. 

But  caring  for  the  injured  is  only  a  minor  func- 
tion in  the  operation  of  this  far-reaching  piece  of 
conservation  machinery.  To  keep  the  body  whole 
and  in  a  fit  condition  is  the  big  ideal  behind  it  all. 

This  company  has  trained  nurses,  physicians 
and  sanitary  experts  in  every  camp,  and  in  co- 
operation with  the  county  it  operates  the  public 
schools.  The  buildings  are  light,  airy  and  sani- 
tary, and  the  children  are  observed  with  watchful 
care.  If  defects  of  any  kind  are  observed,  the 
nurse  reports  it  to  the  physician  and  then  the 
whole  resources  of  the  organization  are  at  the 
disposal  of  that  child.  Even  the  most  remote 
camp  is  visited  regularly  by  the  company  dentists, 
and  every  person  with  defective  teeth  has  his  or 

[  273  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

her  day  of  opportunity.  In  all  of  these  schools 
daily  ** tooth-brush  drills'^  are  held,  with  the  re- 
sult that  the  era  of  bad  molars  is  fast  disappear- 
ing. The  daughter  of  the  mining  camp  of  today 
is  not  like  the  one  of  olden  times,  who,  when  re- 
minded that  her  teeth  were  decaying,  replied  by 
saying,  **I  hope  they'll  last  until  I  get  married.'' 
Today  the  young  folks  in  the  mining  camps  have 
a  livelier  hope  than  this. 

The  absence  of  a  child  is  noted  at  once  in  these 
schools  and  inquiry  is  made  immediately.  If  the 
case  proves  one  in  which  some  disease  has  de- 
veloped the  fact  is  reported  by  the  visitor,  a 
trained  community  worker,  and  the  physician  goes 
at  once.  If  is  proves  to  be  a  contagious  disease, 
precautions  are  taken  to  prevent  its  spread.  If  it 
is  something  requiring  a  high  order  of  skill  in 
combatting,  the  visitor  goes  to  the  hospital,  there 
to  receive  the  same  attention  that  would  be  show- 
ered upon  a  millionaire. 

In  the  baby  ward  on  the  colored  side  of  that 
great  central  hospital  I  saw  a  number  of  ebony 
tots,  their  black  skin  shining  against  the  snow- 
white  linen,  and  they  were  receiving  the  same  skill- 
ful attention  that  was  being  given  the  patients  at 
the  other  end  of  the  big  structure.  Some  were 
suffering  from  mal-nutrition  when  discovered  and 
taken  to  the  hospital,  and  here  their  food  was  being 

[274] 


THE  TEETH  OF  A  CHH^D 

weighed  and  measured  and  their  poor,  misshapen 
forms  were  being  coaxed  into  healthfulness. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  about  the 
** Whittling  negro,"  meaning  the  one  who  dearly 
likes  to  apply  a  keen-edged  knife  to  a  piece  of  soft 
pine,  but  I  never  realized  how  great  this  passion 
for  cutting  could  become  until  I  saw  the  perform- 
ance of  a  negro  boy  in  this  hospital.  He  had 
been  caught  in  an  automobile  wreck  and  was  him- 
self about  as  complete  a  wreck  as  ever  appeared 
in  a  hospital.  His  left  arm  was  broken  in 
two  places,  both  legs  were  broken  at  sundry 
points,  and  his  head  w^as  a  mass  of  bruises.  When 
I  saw  him  he  was  trussed  up  in  a  most  amazing 
fashion.  His  legs  were  raised  high  above  his 
head,  splinted  and  weighted,  and  his  left  arm  was 
arranged  in  similar  fashion,  the  hand  alone  being 
free,  and  its  measure  of  freedom  being  limited  to 
a  slight  movement  of  the  fingers.  Yet  this  human 
wreck  held  a  piece  of  soft  pine  in  that  trussed-up 
hand,  by  those  sadly  circumscribed  fingers,  and, 
reaching  high  up  with  the  one  uninjured  limb,  he 
was  deftly  whittling  at  that  piece  of  wood ! 

I  laughed  outright  at  the  absurdity  of  the  thing, 
and  the  darky  chuckled  in  return  but  did  not  miss 
a  stroke  with  his  busy  little  knife. 

The  work  of  reaching  and  helping  the  children 
in   these    industrial   communities    is    one    which 

[  275  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

brings  tlie  worker  in  frequent  contact  with  the 
home,  and  for  this  reason  it  is  entrusted  to 
women.  Skillful,  diplomatic  and  well-trained, 
they  are  performing  a  miracle  of  usefulness  in 
many  quarters.  The  result  of  such  activities  will 
be  to  put  the  children  of  the  mining  camps  far 
ahead  of  the  children  of  other  small  communi- 
ties, unless  there  is  a  more  general  awakening  in 
these  sections  to  the  importance  of  conserving 
human  materials. 

The  same  reasons  that  impel  great  industrial 
agencies  to  spend  large  sums  in  promoting  the 
mental  and  bodily  welfare  of  the  children  in  the 
communities  where  their  money  is  invested  should 
impel  the  thoughtful  citizens  of  every  center  of 
population,  however  small,  to  encourage  similar 
activities.  Decent  schools,  where  the  mind  may  be 
developed  under  properly  equipped  instructors; 
playgrounds,  where  the  bodily  development  may 
be  made  to  keep  pace  with  the  growth  of  the  mind, 
and  adequate  means  for  the  correction  and  pre- 
vention of  physical  defects,  should  be  a  part  of 
the  equipment  of  every  community.  Until  this 
condition  is  brought  about,  the  average  small  town 
will  continue  to  be  put  to  shame  by  the  modern 
mining  camp  just  as  the  old-time  camp  is  put  to 
shame  by  the  same  remarkably  efficient  institution. 

When  one  views  the  well-equipped  playgrounds, 
[  276  ] 


THE  TEETH  OF  A  CHILD 

the  large  and  attractive  community  clubs,  the  public 
bath  houses  and  schools,  and  observes  the  precau- 
tions that  are  taken  to  safeguard  the  lives  and  the 
health  of  the  people  in  these  camps,  it  is  to  wonder 
when  a  like  situation  will  materialize  in  those  far 
more  numerous  communities  where  the  reliance  is 
upon  public  money  rather  than  upon  private  capi- 
tal. The  thought  is  irresistible  that  if  far-off  in- 
vestors find  it  profitable  to  spend  money  in  this 
wise  through  their  officials,  it  should  be  equally 
profitable  for  those  whose  lives  are  spent  in  small 
towns  to  make  similar  investments  through  their 
public  officials. 

Slowly,  perhaps,  but  surely,  some  such  senti- 
ment as  this  is  going  to  develop  through  the  urge 
and  precept  of  example.  Signs  of  it  are  seen  in 
the  growing  demand  throughout  Alabama  for  im- 
proved educational  facilities.  It  has  been  less 
than  half  a  dozen  years  since  the  Constitution  of 
the  State  was  amended  permitting  the  various 
counties  and  the  school  districts  mthin  these  coun- 
ties to  levy  as  much  as  three  mills  additional  for 
school  purposes.  This  amendment  was  carried 
only  after  the  most  heart-breaking  labor,  many 
counties  in  the  State  voting  against  it.  Yet, 
within  so  short  a  time  as  since  has  intervened, 
every  county  in  the  State  has  seen  the  wisdom  of 
increasing  school  funds,  while  scores  of  school 

[  277  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

districts  voted  additional  increases  after  the 
county  had  acted.  This  growing  appreciation  of 
educational  advantages,  accompanied  as  it  is  by 
enlarging  facilities,  is  the  most  hopeful  sign  of 
the  times. 

An  analysis  of  the  actuating  motives  behind  that 
which,  to  the  casual  observer,  might  be  construed 
as  philanthropic  activities  on  the  part  of  great  in- 
dustrial institutions,  forms  an  interesting  study. 
Broadly  speaking,  these  activities  spring  from  a 
desire  to  create  and  to  hold  an  intelligent  and  con- 
tented working  force,  accompanied  by  a  sense  of 
genuine  responsibility  for  the  welfare  of  em- 
ployees. 

In  the  application  of  this  theory  of  how  to 
create  and  hold  an  experienced  and  efficient  force, 
some  very  remarkable  results  have  been  obtained 
along  cultural  as  well  as  practical  lines.  Music 
and  the  drama  have  been  made  to  flourish  along 
with  sound  teeth  and  a  sound  body.  The  pageant 
is  very  popular,  and  it  is  not  unusual  for  whole 
communities  to  become  so  interested  in  the  presen- 
tation of  a  great,  spectacular  performance  that  all 
other  topics  are  forgotten.  Mothers  become  lost 
in  the  task  of  creating  wonderful  costumes  for 
children  who  are  to  appear  as  fairies  or  flowers, 
or  for  adults  who  are  to  impersonate  heroic  figures 
in  some  dramatic  master-piece.    For  such  presen- 

[  278  ] 


THE  TEETH  OF  A  CHILD 

tations  the  company  furnishes  the  skilled  director 
and  the  community  furnishes  the  talent  and  the 
enthusiasm  essential  to  success. 

Through  affairs  of  this  kind  there  has  been 
built  up  in  more  than  one  community  a  whole- 
some pride  in  the  *4iome  town''  that  has  had  an 
almost  electrical  effect  upon  the  attitude  of  the 
people.  I  shall  never  forget  the  interest  and  en- 
thusiasm which  attended  the  presentation  of  a 
wonderfully  elaborate  pageant  at  one  of  the  old 
ore  mines  in  the  Birmingham  district. 

The  excuse  for  this  spectacular  production  was 
the  changing  of  the  name  of  the  camp ;  the  change 
being  from  something  commonplace  and  mean- 
ingless to  something  classic  and  suggestive  — 
something  that  would  appeal  to  the  imagination 
of  the  resident  and  give  him  a  prideful  talking 
point  when  visitors  came  to  town. 

The  legend  about  the  new  name  was  developed 
by  the  dramatic  director  in  such  a  way  that  prac- 
tically the  whole  population  was  brought  into  the 
production,  and  never  was  greater  interest  mani- 
fested in  an  event  of  the  kind.  As  illustrating 
the  measure  of  this  interest,  it  may  be  chronicled 
that  an  aged  blacksmith  who  had  been  overlooked 
in  the  organization  of  the  pageant  came  forward 
and  demanded  the  privilege  of  having  some  part 
in  it.    Just  what  to  de  with  him  was  a  problem  for 

[  279  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

a  time,  but  he  offered  the  solution  by  declaring  that 
he  was  going  to  be  ^'the  iron  man''  of  the  show, 
and  he  was.  The  measure  of  his  interest  may  be 
gauged  by  the  fact  that  in  creating  his  costume 
and  equipment  he  even  went  to  the  length  of 
making  a  special  sledge  hammer  svith  his  own 
hands.  Large  of  body  and  seared  by  years  of 
contact  with  the  metal  he  represented,  this  old 
blacksmith  made  a  heroic  figure  when  the  spec- 
tacle was  produced. 

T\^ien  this  pageant  finally  was  presented  one 
starry  night  there  was  a  great  multitude  on  hand 
to  mtness  it,  the  spectators  including  a  large 
number  of  people  from  Birmingham  who  had 
gone  out  upon  a  special  train.  A  vast  and  color- 
ful spectacle,  presented  with  skill  born  of  long 
practice  and  with  an  enthusiasm  which  bore  elo- 
quent testimony  to  the  interest  of  the  participants, 
the  event  was  a  huge  success. 

While  pageants  so  elaborate  and  so  all-embrac- 
ing as  this  are  somewhat  rare,  smaller  produc- 
tions are  commonplace  and  always  they  are  events 
of  great  interest  in  the  communities  where  they 
are  presented.  Even  the  colored  camps  are  not 
immune  from  the  contagion  of  the  pageant,  and 
another  picture  I  have  in  mind  is  a  group  of  per- 
haps fifty  little  colored  girls  all  attired  as  '*fair- 
ies"  and  all  wearing  costumes   of  filmy  white, 

[  280  ] 


THE  TEETH  OF  A  CHILD 

adorned  with  gossamer  wings.  While  black-faced 
fairies  call  for  some  strain  upon  the  imagination, 
and  there  is  something  in  such  a  spectacle  that 
tends  to  provoke  a  smile,  there  also  is  something 
that  grips  the  heartstrings,  for  these  dusky  chil- 
dren of  the  hills  are  just  as  much  in  earnest  and 
find  just  as  much  delight  in  their  Avork  as  is  found 
by  the  dainty  little  beauties  who  perform  in  like 
fashion  in  the  camps  of  the  Caucasians. 

Exquisite  settings  for  the  presentation  of 
pageants  are  found  in  almost  every  community 
throughout  the  mining  district,  the  hills  being 
richly  wooded  as  a  rule,  and  present  many  charm- 
ing glens  and  hill-side  stages.  To  see  a  crowd  of 
beautiful  children  adorned  with  filmy  costumes 
performing  their  graceful  evolutions  upon  one  of 
these  stages  which  nature  has  so  artistically  deco- 
rated is  to  get  a  new  conception  of  the  ideals 
toward  which  men  and  women  and  industrial  in- 
stitutions are  striving  in  the  mineral  regions  of 
Alabama. 

To  conclude  that  these  ideals  dominate  in  all 
the  mining  camps  would  be  to  err  most  grievously, 
for  such  is  not  the  case.  There  are  camps  here 
and  there,  and  industrial  communities  here  and 
there,  where  the  settings  and  surroundings  are 
commonplace  enough,  and  where  life  contains  few 
colorful  aspects.    But  the  point  is  that  they  rep- 

[  281  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

resent  an  order  that  is  passing.  The  new  camp, 
with  its  attention  to  the  mental,  physical  and 
social,  as  well  as  the  spiritual  life,  is  representa- 
tive of  the  trend  today.  The  old  order  is  passing; 
the  new  order  moves  with  quickened  tread. 


[  282  ] 


CHAPTER  XX 

ALADDIN  'S  LAMP  SURPASSED 


IN  no  brancli  of  industry  is  the  skill  and  ingenu- 
ity of  man  demonstrated  more  impressively 
than  in  that  field  in  which  he  hies  forth  to 
gather  the  color  and  the  nectar  and  the  elusive 
fragrance  of  flowers  and  fruits  that  blossomed  and 
ripened  and  died  long  centuries  ago. 

Fancy,  if  you  will,  a  tropical  forest,  luxuriant 
with  growth.  Giant  trees  rear  their  heads  and 
stretch  long  arms  that  interlock  and  form  deep 
and  shady  lanes.  Vines,  like  monster  serpents, 
trail  their  tortuous  way  from  trunk  to  limb  and 
tree  to  tree,  their  tendrils  twining  in  and  out  and 
their  clustered  fruits  dotting  the  forest  with  pur- 
ple and  yellow  and  red.  In  open  spaces,  where  the 
sunhght  finds  its  way,  fruit  trees  flourish,  bear- 
ing first  the  blossom,  with  its  delicate  shades  and 
its  sweet  perfumes;  and  then  the  ripened  fruit, 

[  283  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

with,  its  varying  degrees  of  loveliness  and  its  wide 
diversity  of  flavor. 

Flowers,  too,  bloom  here,  splashing  the  forest 
with  color  as  the  sunset  splashes  the  evening  sky, 
and  filling  the  air  ^\ith  fragrance;  the  fragrance 
of  the  violet,  subtle  and  sweet;  of  the  wdld  rose, 
so  elusive  as  scarcely  to  be  detected,  and  of  the 
yellow  jessamine,  strong  and  persuasive. 

Herbs  with  many  remarkable  medicinal  quali- 
ties grow  in  this  forest,  too,  and  there  are  plants 
which  contain  gases,  oils  and  acids,  alkalis  and 
similar  properties,  in  endless  variety. 

With  such  a  scene  as  this  upon  the  mental 
screen,  then  fancy  the  passing  of  many  centuries, 
with  their  amazing  changes  in  the  contour  and 
conditions  upon  the  earth's  surface.  The  forest, 
with  its  riot  of  life  and  color  and  fragrance,  has 
been  buried  beneath  billions  of  tons  of  ice  and 
snow.  It  has  been  subjected  to  mighty  pressure, 
to  the  grinding  action  of  great,  slow  moving 
weights,  to  floods,  and  to  the  changing  processes 
of  the  ages. 

Time  passes,  millions  of  years  perhaps,  and  the 
substance  of  what  once  constituted  that  forest  is 
buried  deep  in  the  earth,  a  black,  hard  mass,  vary- 
ing in  thickness  from  a  few  feet  to  ten  and  twelve 
feet  in  rare  instances.  This  mass  is  called  bitu- 
minous coal. 

[  284] 


ALADDIN'S   LAMP   SURPASSED 

It  is  into  the  remains  of  this  prehistoric  forest 
that  the  scientist  goes  upon  his  remarkable  expe 
ditions  and  returns  with  the  evidence  of  such 
amazing  conquests.  Every  element  that  entered 
into  the  making  of  that  long-lost  forest  is  recov- 
ered. The  color  of  the  grape,  the  sweet  of  the 
plum,  the  fragrance  of  the  violet,  the  bitter  of  the 
medicinal  herb,  the  gas  of  the  decaying  growth, 
the  oil  of  the  nut;  these,  and  thousands  of  other 
elements;  are  recovered,  and,  behold,  the  forest 
appears;  appears  in  the  color  of  the  lawn,  worn 
by  the  little  miss ;  in  the  shade  of  the  tie  about  her 
father's  neck;  in  the  tints  upon  the  veil  the  mother 
wears  upon  her  face ;  in  the  perfume  on  the  dresser 
and  the  flavoring  extract  upon  the  shelf;  in  the 
drugs  stored  up  in  the  medicine  case  and  in  the 
polish  that  awaits  application  to  boots  and  shoes ; 
in  the  gas  that  cooks  the  dinner  and  in  the  streets 
over  which  the  food  is  hauled;  in  the  roof  upon 
the  housetop  and  the  colors  of  paint  upon  the 
walls. 

Every  element  in  that  once  luxuriant  forest  is 
recovered ;  the  flower  that  bloomed  unseen  in  ages 
gone  is  made  to  bloom  again,  and  so  with  all  the 
rest  of  it.  But  for  this  amazing  miracle,  which 
forms  one  of  the  greatest  tributes  that  can  be  paid 
to  the  ingenuity  of  man,  the  world  would  be  quite 
a  different  sort  of  place,  lacking  much  in  color,  in 

[  285  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

beauty^  in  convenience,  and  in  things  that  minister 
to  the  comfort  and  the  health  of  its  inhabitants. 

Some  of  the  common  nses  to  which  the  by-prod- 
ncts  of  coal  are  put  include  the  manufacture  of 
steel,  paints,  oils,  fertilizers,  baking  sodas,  chemi- 
cal supplies,  medicines,  explosives,  dyes,  fruit  pre- 
servatives, soaps,  oil  stains,  washing  powders, 
photographic  supplies,  insulation  for  electrical 
appliances,  glass  making,  illuminating  and  cook- 
ing gas,  waterproofing  and  wood  preservatives. 
The  refinements  run  into  the  thousands,  entering 
practically  every  industry  under  the  sun. 

While  the  old-fashioned  bee-hive  oven,  which 
made  coke  and  nothing  else,  was  used  exclusively 
in  Birmingham  for  a  number  of  years,  and  all  the 
precious  by-products  were  allowed  to  go  to  waste, 
serious  attention  began  to  be  given  this  subject 
some  twelve  or  fifteen  years  ago,  and  in  conse- 
quence several  large  by-product  plants  have  been 
erected,  their  aggregate  output  covering  a  wide 
range.  Among  the  earliest  enterprises  of  this 
character  was  the  Semet-Solvay  plant,  forming 
one  of  the  immense  group  of  inter-dependent  in- 
dustries in  the  Ensley  field.  The  latest  enterprise 
is  the  Sloss  by-product  plant,  famed  as  the  start- 
ing point  of  national  and  international  balloon 
races,  and  the  plant  from  which  Birmingham  ob- 
tains its  gas  for  lighting  and  heating  purposes. 

[  286  ] 


ALADDIN'S   LAMP   SURPASSED 

The  tree,  symbolic  of  that  ancient  forest,  fur- 
nishes an  excellent  illustration  of  the  stages 
through  which  the  various  elements  in  coal  are 
developed,  though  processes  vary  with  varying 
institutions. 

With  this  fanciful  tree  growing  out  of  a  bed  of 
coal,  we  will  name  the  main  trunk  ^^gas,"  and  the 
first  big  limb  protruding  from  it  **  ammonia 
liquor."  From  this  limb  there  are  a  multitude  of 
off-shoots,  the  derivatives  of  which  may  be  enumer- 
ated in  this  wise:  ammonium  phosphate,  ammo- 
nium chloride  (used  in  batteries  and  in  galvaniz- 
ing), ammonium  oxalate,  ammonium  tartrate,  soda 
ash,  ammonium  carbonate,  ammonium  bicarbon- 
ate (used  in  baking  and  in  washing  compounds), 
aqua  ammonia,  household  ammonia,  anhydrous 
ammonia  (used  in  refrigeration),  cyanide,  ammo- 
nia sulphate  (used  in  making  fertilizers),  ammo- 
nium bromide,  ammonium  nitrate  (used  in  making 
explosives),  ammonium  sulphocyanide,  ammonium 
fluride,  ammonium  alum,  and  ammonium 
iodide. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  this  tree  fancy  a  larger 
limb,  with  a  number  of  rather  large  off-shoots. 
This  limb  we  will  name  ^^tar,"  and,  taking  up  the 
first  off-shoot,  called  ^* pitch,"  we  find  insulation, 
paints,  waterproofing,  roofing,  paving,  core  com- 
pounds, fuel,  and  electrodes.    Branching  off,  oppo- 

[  287  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

site  this  secondary  limb,  is  one  which  may  be 
called  *' refined  tar,'^  producing  paints,  wood  pre- 
servatives, roofing,  waterproofing,  pipe  coating 
and  paving  materials.  Another  limb,  called  *  ^  light 
oil,"  and  we  find  benzol  and  its  derivatives,  phenol 
and  its  derivatives,  toluol  and  its  derivatives,  emul- 
sions, cresol,  disinfectants,  insecticides,  germi- 
cides, denaturing  agents,  naphtha,  para  cuma- 
done,  varnish,  etc.  Another  robust  off-shoot  from 
this  *^tar''  limb  may  be  called  ^^ middle  oil,''  some 
of  the  derivatives  of  which  are  phenol,  cresol,  paint 
thinners,  wood  preservatives,  shingle  stains,  print- 
ing ink,  lampblacks,  shoe  polishes,  naphthalene, 
sundry  drugs  and  acids,  dyes  and  explosives.  At 
the  end  of  this  same  robust  limb,  where  the  heavy 
oils  flow,  the  chemist  finds  more  lampblack,  more 
wood  preservatives,  anthracene  oil,  cholorinated 
oils,  and  an  elaborate  collection  of  dyes. 

Another  large  limb  with  multiple  off-shoots  is 
called  ** crude  benzol,'*  and  here  may  be  found 
toluol,  nitro  toluols  to  ludine,  benzyl  chloride,  more 
explosives  and  more  dyes,  saccharine  (its  presence 
here  showing  that  it  is  without  food  value),  ben- 
zaldehyde,  perfumes,  food  preservatives,  more 
drugs,  anesthetics,  benzoyl  chloride,  xylol,  nitro 
xylols,  xylidines,  solvent  naphtha,  rubber  cement, 
resrocin,  sulpho  acids,  phenol,  picric  acid,  picrates, 
more  explosives,  antiseptics,  anisol,  more  drugs, 

[  288  ] 


ALADDIN'S   LAMP   SURPASSED 

more  disinfectants,  sulpho  acid,  artificial  leather, 
and  more  drugs,  dyes  and  solvents. 

Toward  the  top  of  the  main  trunk  of  the  imag- 
inary tree  mil  be  found  residual  gas  with  off- 
shoots of  sulphur,  sulphurous  acid,  carbon  disul- 
phide,  visoos,  sundry  drugs,  cyanogen,  cyanide,  am- 
monia, nitric  acid,  ferrocyanide,  pigments,  Prus- 
sian blue,  photographic  chemicals,  chemicals  for 
gold  recovery,  gas  for  domestic  uses,  for  glass  fur- 
naces, for  open-hearth  furnaces,  steam  boilers, 
etc.,  and,  at  the  very  top,  carbon  black. 

These  various  elements  of  common  use  consti- 
tute but  a  few  of  the  many  valuable  properties  re- 
covered from  bituminous  coal.  Practically  all  of 
the  by-products  mentioned  here  are  subject  to  re- 
finement that  lead  to  the  production  of  many  other 
things  found  in  every-day  use,  from  which  it  is 
clear  that  without  the  remains  of  those  ancient 
forests,  and  without  the  ability  of  man  to  recover 
the  elements  of  which  they  were  composed,  the 
world  would  be  a  much  less  attractive,  less  health- 
ful and  less  colorful  place  in  which  to  live ;  a  world 
lacking  much  in  the  conveniences  that  go  to  make 
life  pleasant.  Indeed,  the  exclamation  of  the 
sweet  young  girl  who  cried,  **0h,  isn't  nature 
cute!"  upon  first  beholding  the  marvels  of  the 
Grand  Canyon,  scarcely  expresses  the  feeling  of 
one  who  considers  the  marvelous  character  of  the 

[  289  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

black  and  shining  substance  which  burns  upon  the 
grate  when  winter's  winds  are  blowing.  It  is  a 
magic  lamp,  far  more  wonderful  than  the  fabled 
lamp  of  old. 

As  nature  has  assembled  the  raw  materials  at 
the  doors  of  Birmingham's  industrial  enterprises, 
so  man  has  performed  feats  of  co-ordination  that 
are  remarkable  in  their  completeness.  This  is 
found  in  the  location  of  by-product  plants  in  rela- 
tion to  enterprises  consuming  the  various  ele- 
ments extracted  from  coal.  In  the  Ensley  group 
of  industries,  underground  pipes  convey  materials 
from  the  by-product  plants  to  industrial  enter- 
prises which  consume  or  convert  these  elements. 
Thus  tar,  which  forms  the  base  of  all  the  materials 
produced  at  the  plant  of  the  Barrett  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  is  piped  direct  from  the  point  of 
origin,  there  to  be  converted  into  road  materials, 
roofing  materials,  paints  and  other  products  of 
like  character. 

Adjoining  this  plant  are  three  immense  lakes  of 
material  which  is  called  ''pitch,''  and  which  rep- 
resents the  residue  of  tar  after  the  sundry  ele- 
ments have  been  extracted.  These  lakes,  the 
largest  of  their  kind  in  the  world,  cover  many 
acres  and  are  as  much  as  thirty  feet  deep  in  some 
places.  Practically  worthless  as  they  stand,  they 
represent  the  ever-present  problem  involved  in  the 

[  290  ] 


'-  ^»  ^v> 


'*  -  >^. 


ALADDIN'S   LAMP   SURPASSED 

utilization  of  waste  products.  This  pitch  is  capa- 
ble of  being  converted  into  the  finest  of  coke,  but 
no  process  lias  been  devised  for  converting  it  into 
this  highly  useful  material  upon  a  basis  that  would 
be  profitable,  though  many  thousands  of  dollars 
have  been  expended  in  the  building  of  experi- 
mental ovens  and  in  carrying  on  various  re- 
searches. So  the  material  piles  up,  flowing  from 
the  furnaces  in  liquid  form  and  becoming  hard  and 
brittle  when  exposed  to  the  air.  A  small  quantity 
of  it  is  being  used  in  France  in  the  manufacture 
of  fuel,  but  beyond  this  there  is  no  demand  for  it. 

It  has  been  in  the  mastery  of  problems  such  as 
that  presented  by  the  presence  of  this  huge  volume 
of  refuse,  that  industry  has  gone  forward  to  new 
conquests,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  slag,  there  is  no 
doubt  but  the  inquiring  mind  and  the  restless  hand 
of  the  chemical  engineer  will  yet  touch  upon  some 
means  of  utilizing  this  material.  And,  in  so  doing, 
will  open  up  new  avenues  of  industrial  activities. 

Within  a  short  distance  of  these  lakes  of  pitch 
is  found  evidence  upon  which  prophecy  with  ref- 
erence to  waste  products  is  justified,  for  here  slag 
is  being  converted  into  brick  and  tile. 

Slag  is  the  refuse  which  comes  from  furnaces 
after  the  metallic  iron  has  been  removed  from  the 
ore  mixture.  As  great  mountains  of  sawdust  once 
accumulated  around  every  sawmill,  so  giant  heaps 

[  291  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

of  slag  grew  about  furnaces.  These  heaps  grew 
and  grew  with  the  passing  of  the  years  and  came 
to  encumber  hundreds  of  acres  that  might  have 
been  utilized  for  other  purposes.  Coming  from 
the  furnaces  in  a  molten  state,  the  slag  is  run  into 
great  vessels,  mounted  upon  trucks,  and  these  ves- 
sels are  pulled  or  pushed  to  the  top  of  the  moun- 
tains by  engines.  There  they  are  tilted,  and  the 
slag  rolls  down  the  sides  like  lava  from  the  mouth 
of  a  white-hot  volcano.  Thus  the  mountains  have 
grown,  until  today  there  are  many  millions  of  tons 
of  the  material  scattered  over  the  Birmingham 
district. 

Until  recent  years,  this  material  was  considered 
worthless.  Then  cities  and  towns  began  to  use 
small  quantities  of  it  in  road  building,  as  has  been 
pointed  out  elsewhere.  Coincidentally,  railroad 
contractors  found  that  it  was  peculiarly  adapted  to 
the  building  of  roadbeds,  and  bridge  builders  and 
house  builders  discovered  that  it  was  ideal  for 
foundation  w^ork.  The  development  of  these  uses 
created  a  market  for  much  of  the  material,  but  it 
merely  marked  the  beginning,  for  experiments 
were  being  made  in  many  directions,  and  presently 
new  industries,  based  upon  the  utilization  of  slag 
for  building  materials,  sprang  up. 

The  brick  and  tile  plant  to  which  reference  is 
made  here  is  located  within  the  shadow  of  the  huge 

[  292  ] 


ALADDIN'S   LAMP   SURPASSED 

battery  of  furnaces  at  Ensley.  There,  instead  of 
the  slag  being  piled  up  in  mountains,  as  was  the 
case  for  so  many  years,  it  is  thrown  out  convenient 
to  the  brick  and  tile  works  where  it  is  consumed  by 
one  process  or  another. 

A  process  has  been  discovered  for  giving  a 
smooth  finish  to  the  exposed  surface  of  the  slag 
brick  and  the  slag  tile,  and  of  imparting  to  it  any 
color,  or  combination  of  colors,  that  may  be  sug- 
gested. Thus  many  beautiful  effects  are  obtained, 
and  thus  a  great  and  useful  industry  has  been 
founded  upon  a  material  that  was  little  more  than 
a  nuisance  a  few  years  ago.  Other  uses  are  found 
for  slag  in  other  industrial  plants,  and,  as  this  is 
written,  plans  are  under  way  for  converting  it  into 
snow-white  bathtubs,  into  huge  vases,  glorified 
with  every  color  of  the  rainbow,  and  into  many 
other  useful  and  ornamental  products.  Thus  the 
despised  slag  pile  has  become  a  mountain  of  poten- 
tial wealth;  the  basis  of  many  and  varied  enter- 
prises and  the  means  of  providing  many  hands 
with  tasks  not  dreamed  of  in  other  days. 

Another  interesting  plant  from  which  comes  a 
slag  by-product  of  great  value  is  found  in  the 
midst  of  this  group  of  busy  industries  clustered 
about  the  battery  of  furnaces  at  Ensley.  This  is 
a  fertilizer  plant,  producing  basic  phosphate, 
which  is  the  best  soil  food  known  because  it  car- 

[  293  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

ries  no  acid  and  corrects  the  acid  in  the  soil  with 
which  it  comes  in  contact.  In  this  plant  the  ma- 
chinery is  so  co-ordinated  that  two  men  can  turn 
out  7,100  bags  in  ten  hours.  The  slag  from  which 
this  fertilizer  is  made  is  not  the  ordinary  blast- 
furnace slag,  but  is  a  special  product  of  the  open- 
hearth  furnace,  gro^^ing  out  of  the  duplex  process 
of  manufacturing  steel,  and  is  exceptionally  rich 
in  phosphorous. 

While  most  of  the  gigantic  industries  of  Birm- 
ingham are  grouped  in  this  territory,  where  the 
iron  may  take  a  running  start,  leap  through  the 
steel  mill,  and  then  whirl  into  the  establishment 
where  it  goes  into  the  finished  product,  there  are 
other  districts  in  which  diversified  industries  of 
almost  every  conceivable  character  are  found. 

Forming  a  great  crescent,  which  circles  East 
Birmingham  and  extends  through  North  Birming- 
ham, may  be  found  an  immense  number  of  estab- 
lishments consuming  quantities  of  iron  and  steel 
and  employing  many  thousands  of  skilled  mechan- 
ics. Sugar  mills,  so  huge  that  it  requires  an  entire 
train  to  haul  a  single  plant,  locomotives,  stationary 
engines,  steamship  engines,  ship  fittings,  boilers, 
cotton  gins,  stoves,  radiators,  clay  pipe,  pipe  fit- 
tings, and  many  other  products  are  manufactured 
in  this  territory.  Then  there  are  more  furnaces, 
another  steel  plant,  an  automobile  factory,  cotton 

[  294  ] 


ALADDIN'S   LAMP    SURPASSED 

seed  mills,  bolt  and  nut  works,  lumber  yards, 
planing  mills,  grate  factories,  machine  shops  and 
foundries  extending  mile  upon  mile. 

Turning  west  from  North  Birmingham  and 
bending  again  in  the  direction  of  Ensley,  comes  a 
huge  clay  pipe  and  tile  plant,  a  tremendous  iron 
pipe  plant  which,  with  the  stores  and  schools  and 
homes  about  it,  constitutes  a  town  in  itself,  and  a 
model  town  it  is.  Here,  in  Acipco,  even  the  hum- 
blest negro  worker  has  a  home  equipped  with  bath 
and  all  modern  appliances  for  comfort  and  health. 
Further  on,  still  moving  in  the  direction  of  Ensley, 
one  comes  to  the  great  and  modern  furnace  plant 
of  the  Eepublic  Iron  &  Steel  Company  —  occupy- 
ing the  center  of  another  community  where  flowers 
bloom  along  the  streets  and  where  ample  evidence 
is  found  of  a  desire  to  surround  the  worker  with 
the  things  that  go  to  make  home  life  attractive. 

Next  in  order  comes  Pratt  City  (though  we  are 
still  within  the  confines  of  Birmingham),  and 
here  are  found  other  openings  into  the  great  Pratt 
coal  seam.  The  first  opening  into  this  seam  was 
made  at  this  point  in  1878  when  the  problem  of 
obtaining  a  sufficient  amount  of  coal  to  provide 
coke  for  the  iron  furnaces  was  most  urgent. 
Though  the  means  of  making  Birmingham  iron  by 
the  coke  process  had  been  discovered  only  a  couple 
of  years  before,  many  new  furnaces  had  been  pro- 

[  295  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

jected,  and  the  shortage  of  coal  had  become  acute. 
H.  F.  DeBardeleben  and  J.  W.  Sloss,  both  of 
whom  had  been  active,  in  developing  the  coke  iron 
industry,  became  associated  with  T.  H.  Aldrich, 
another  pioneer  developer,  and  the  trio  made  the 
initial  opening  into  the  seam,  which  since  that 
date  has  penetrated  at  many  other  points  and  has 
come  to  be  a  prime  element  in  the  industrial  ex- 
pansion of  the  district. 

At  Pratt  City,  should  the  sight-seer  wish  to 
have  a  lengthy  underground  journey,  he  may  pass 
from  one  slope  to  another  until  he  has  traversed 
the  lower  workings  of  nine  inter-communicating 
mines. 

Beyond  Pratt  City  comes  Ensley,  next  in  order 
being  Fairfield,  through  which  the  great  chain  of 
industries,  beginning  with  the  Ensley  furnace 
plant  and  the  steel  mill,  runs  Avithout  interruption. 
Beyond  Fairfield  are  found  the  monumental  plants 
where  the  steel  is  rolled  that  forms  the  plates  in 
many  an  ocean  vessel;  where  railroad  cars  are 
built  in  shops  so  huge  that  the  observer  is  fairly 
staggered,  and  where  everj^thing  is  done  upon  a 
scale  so  large  that  one  marvels  at  the  genius  and 
the  courage  of  those  who  conceived  and  executed 
plans  so  gigantic. 

Further  Westward  one  encounters  the  great 
furnace  and  coke  plants  of  the  Woodward  Com- 
[  296  ] 


ALADDIN'S   LAMP   SURPASSED 

pany,  and  still  further  is  Bessemer,  a  city  sepa- 
rate from  Birmingham  but  connected  with  two 
Imes  of  trolley,  steam  railways,  and  asphalt  and 
chert  highways.  Furnaces  and  pipe  plants  con- 
stitute the  chief  industries  here.  Turning  back 
toward  Birmingham,  one  passes  a  number  of  ore 
mines,  the  huge  plant  of  the  Grasselli  Chemical 
Company,  and  numerous  other  enterprises  of 
lesser  importance. 

In  addition  to  the  closely  grouped  industries  in 
the  territories  referred  to,  there  are  two  large, 
furnace  plants  within  a  half  mile  of  the  business 
section  of  the  city,  one  on  the  West  and  one  in  the 
East,  and  between  these  lie  a  great  net-work  of 
railroad  tracks,  traversing  the  wholesale  district: 
Going  East,  beyond  the  Sloss  furnaces,  one  reaches 
Avondale,  where  there  are  a  large  textile  factory, 
a  cotton  gin  factory,  a  steel  products  plant,  huge 
railroad  shops,  and  many  other  industries. 

Verily,  the  Indian  who  trailed  the  deer,  the 
panther  and  the  bear  upon  these  hills  and  through, 
these  vales  a  little  while  ago,  and  who  used  the 
red  rock  (iron  ore)  to  trace  gaudy  patterns  upon 
his  face  and  limbs,  scarcely  would  recognize  his 
old  hunting  ground!  Instead  of  the  smoke  from 
the  tiny  tepee,  issues  the  smoke  of  the  giant  fur- 
nace; instead  of  the  cry  of  the  beast  of  prey,  is 
the  shriek  of  the  deep-throated  whistle;  instead 

[  297  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

of  the  slumbering  valley,  with  the  voice  of  birds 
and  the  hum  of  insects,  is  the  teeming  life  of  a 
great  metropolis. 

What  a  commentary  is  this  upon  the  intellectual 
gifts  of  men;  what  a  tribute  to  the  brain  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon ! 

All  of  the  materials  with  which  the  white  man 
wrought  this  miracle  were  here  when  the  savage 
made  his  way  across  these  hills  and  valleys.  To 
hunt,  to  fight,  to  eat,  to  sleep,  was  enough  for  him. 

Then  came  the  white  man,  eager,  ambitious,  re- 
sourceful, palpitating  with  the  love  of  conquest, 
and  then  the  miracle!  Under  his  feet  he  found 
the  making  of  an  industrial  empire,  and  within 
his  own  being  he  found  the  strength,  the  genius 
and  the  purpose  to  transform  these  raw  materials 
into  the  finished  product. 


[  298  ] 


CHAPTER  XXI 


FAE-FLUNG  INFLUENCES 


REFEEENCE  lias  been  made  to  the  fact 
that  Birmingham  is  remarkable  for  the 
size  of  its  Sunday  School  classes  and 
for  the  enthusiasm  behind  the  Sunday  School 
movement.  This  bald  statement  may  have  aroused 
some  curiosity  in  the  minds  of  readers  who  are 
interested  in  the  growth  of  religious  movements, 
so  the  answer  to  the  question  of  how  this  growth 
and  enthusiasm  have  been  brought  about  may  as 
well  be  made  a  part  of  the  record.  It  is  found 
in  one  word  —  organization. 

Sunday  School  acti\dties  in  this  city  are  as 
highly  organized  as  are  the  operations  of  the 
great  industrial  agencies.  Indeed,  the  same  brains 
that  have  helped  to  make  many  of  the  last  named 

[  299  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

agencies  effective  are  behind  the  Sunday  School 
movement,  and  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that 
some  of  the  big  figures  in  the  industrial  and  com- 
mercial life  of  the  community  are  more  enthusias- 
tic about  their  Sunday  School  work  than  they  are 
about  the  achievements  of  the  business  organiza- 
tions ^yitl-l  which  they  are  connected.  This  may 
sound  like  a  fairy  tale,  but  any  one  who  doubts 
may  learn  the  truth  by  a  little  personal  investiga- 
tion. Just  interview  a  few  men  whom  I  shall  name 
at  random. 

Talk  with  W.  H.  Stockham,  head  of  a  pipe  and 
fitting  plant  that  covers  many  blocks ;  A.  L.  Smith, 
of  the  Continental  Gin  Company;  J.  A.  Vann,  or 
W.  M.  Franklin,  moving  spirits  in  great  wholesale 
enterprises;  D.  H.  Marbury,  manufacturer  and 
wholesaler;  E.  E.  Linthicum  or  C.  S.  Bissell,  in- 
dustrial leaders,  and  ^ye  minutes '  conversation  will 
serve  to  demonstrate  the  fact  that  to  them  Sunday 
School  work  is  a  business  of  primary  importance. 
Moreover,  it  has  been  put  on  a  business  basis 
through  the  genius  of  just  such  men,  aided  by  the 
fine  spirituality  of  the  many  good  women  identi- 
fied with  the  work. 

The  first  step  toward  the  highly  specialized  or- 
ganization that  exists  today  was  taken  back  in 
1898,  when  Mrs.  William  Hardy  organized  a 
Primary   Sunday   School   Teachers'   Union,   the 

[  300  ] 


FAR-FLUNG  INFLUENCES 

members  of  which  met  once  a  week  for  the  purpose 
of  trying  to  make  more  effective  the  work  of  in- 
structing children  in  the  primary  grades.  Gradu- 
ally the  value  of  co-operative  work  along  these 
lines  so  impressed  itself  upon  the  community  that 
a  demand  arose  for  an  extension  of  the  system, 
and  a  Junior  Department  was  created,  the  name 
of  the  organization  being  changed  to  the  Birming- 
ham Graded  Union.  Later,  Intermediate  and 
Adult  Departments  were  added,  and  the  organiza- 
tion became  a  power  in  shaping  the  activities  of 
Sunday  Schools  throughout  the  city  and  district. 

The  success  of  this  organization  in  making  Sun- 
day School  work  effective,  and  in  extending  its 
scope,  pointed  the  way  for  a  still  more  ambitious 
effort,  and  there  followed  the  formation  of  the 
Birmingham  Sunday  School  Association  in  1908, 
D.  H.  Marbury  and  Lee  Bonner,  two  prominent 
business  men,  assuming  leadership  in  the  move- 
ment. Headquarters  were  opened,  a  field  secre- 
tary was  employed,  the  first  person  to  occupy  this 
position  being  Miss  Minnie  E.  Kennedy,  who  since 
has  become  a  nationally  known  figure  in  Sunday 
School  work. 

The  financial  support  of  tlie  organization  was 
made  possible  by  an  agreement  on  the  part  of 
the  Sunday  Schools  throughout  the  district  to  set 
aside  the  collection  taken  on  each  fifth  Sunday, 

[  301  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

and,  later,  by  an  annual  subscription  campaign, 
in  which  the  people  at  large  were  asked  to  con- 
tribute. The  budget  system  was  adopted,  and  the 
work  placed  upon  a  practical  business  basis. 

The  first  Training  School  was  held  in  1908,  the 
number  of  Sunday  School  teachers  and  officers, 
taking  the  course  exceeding  two  thousand.  From 
that  time  forward,  these  Training  Schools  became 
annual  events,  the  faculty  each  year  being  com- 
posed of  the  most  distinguished  authorities  upon 
Christian  education  to  be  found  in  the  United 
States,  mth  occasional  visitors,  of  international 
fame,  from  lands  across  the  sea.  By  1917  the 
Training  School  broke  the  World's  record  in  point 
of  attendance,  and  Birmingham  continues  to  lead 
in  this  phase  of  work. 

The  Training  School  lasts  a  week,  during  which 
time  all  phases  of  Christian  effort  are  studied  by 
teachers,  officers  and  field  workers,  increased 
efficiency  being  the  key-note. 

Membership  in  the  Association  is  almost  uni- 
versal among  Protestant  Sunday  Schools,  and  one 
of  the  results  has  been  uniformity  of  effort  along 
the  most  improved  lines.  Another  result  has  been 
to  inspire  confidence  in  the  Sunday  School  as  a 
well  organized,  well  equipped  and  thorough 
agency  in  the  promotion  of  Christianity  and  good 
citizenship,   instead   of   a   hap-hazard,    catch-as- 

[  302  ] 


FAR-FLUNG  INFLUENCES 

catcli-can  proposition,  as  too  often  it  was,  in  the 
absence  of  trained  leaders,  working  along  well 
defined  lines. 

The  city  is  organized  by  districts,  each  having 
a  president  and  each  provided  with  workers  who 
represent  the  various  phases  of  Sunday  School 
effort.  Community  Training  Schools  are  held, 
as  are  quarterly  institutes,  all  looking  forward  to 
the  great  annual  event,  and  all  designed  to  keep 
interest  and  enthusiasm  at  a  high  pitch,  while 
increasing  efficiency. 

But  it  is  not  all  work  with  the  Sunday  School 
Association.  It  goes  in  for  pleasure  on  a  big, 
broad  scale.  A  delightful  summer  camp  is  main- 
tained at  Winnataska,  and  there  the  boys  and  girls 
may  enjoy  a  vacation  under  the  leadership  of 
trained  men  and  women,  whose  duty  is  to  make 
it  a  memorable  occasion ;  one  profitable  physically, 
mentally  and  socially.  Here  the  *^Camp  Fire'* 
girls  enjoy  their  stories  of  adventure  at  night, 
and  swim  and  fish  and  row  by  day,  while  many 
avenues  of  clean  enjoyment  are  open  to  the  boys. 

Banquets,  too,  add  to  the  joy  of  life.  ** Mothers 
and  Daughters''  banquets,  and  ** Fathers  and 
Sons''  banquets  are  regular  events  of  the  winter 
months,  and  they  have  been  powerful  factors  in 
linking  the  home  \^dth  the  Sunday  School. 

It  would  be  a  mistake  to  infer  that  these  activ- 
[  303  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

ities  on  the  part  of  the  Association  have  served  to 
supplant  similar  activities  in  the  separate  Sunday- 
Schools.  These  go  on,  being  intensified  somewhat 
by  the  example  of  the  larger  organization,  and 
the  historic  picnic  continues  to  be  an  annual  event. 
The  difference  is  that  the  boys  who  flock  in  as  the 
picnic  season  approaches  are  more  than  likely  to 
be  held  after  the  fried  chicken,  the  pies  and  the 
lemonade  had  been  disposed  of.  For  one  of  the 
things  the  Association  teaches  is  how  to  grip  and 
to  hold  the  boys  and  the  girls,  as  well  as  the  older 
folks,  who  once  find  their  way  into  the  class  room. 

Liberality  in  the  support  of  all  denominational 
undertakings  is  emphasized,  and  the  type  of 
youngster  described  by  some  joke-smith  as  saying 
*^A  fool  and  his  money  are  soon  parted,"  upon 
being  asked  to  give  a  scriptural  quotation  when 
dropping  his  gift  into  the  box,  is  fast  disappear- 
ing. 

The  success  of  the  Sunday  School  Association 
idea  in  Birmingham  had  the  effect  of  attracting 
widespread  attention,  and  served  to  give  this  city 
a  pre-eminent  position.  Today  organizations 
framed  along  similar  lines  are  found  in  many 
parts  of  the  country,  and  training  schools,  con- 
ducted as  in  Birmingham,  are  held  in  many  com- 
munities. 

Another  illustration  of  how  a  useful  idea  may 
[304] 


FAR-FLUNG  INFLUENCES 

grip  the  popular  imagination  and  grow  at  an 
extraordinary  rate  is  found  in  the  experience  of 
the  Civitan  Club,  of  this  city,  an  organization 
founded  upon  the  idea  that  business  men,  by  get- 
ting together,  might  render  valuable  service  in 
the  development  of  community  assets. 

The  first  Civitan  Club  was  formed  in  Birming- 
ham in  March,  1917,  the  organizers  having  no 
idea  that  they  were  giving  expression  to  an  ideal 
that  would  seize  the  popular  imagination.  Today 
the  Civitan  movement  has  become  international, 
and  scarcely  a  week  passes  without  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  new  club  somewhere. 

Canada  and  Cuba  have  been  invaded,  and  at  this 
writing  clubs  exist  in  over  thirty  American  cities, 
the  list  including  Baltimore,  Washington,  Mem- 
phis, New  Orleans,  Atlanta,  Jacksonville,  Little 
Rock,  San  Antonio,  Houston,  Dallas,  Savannah, 
Chattanooga,  Tulsa,  and  other  widely  scattered 
communities. 

The  parent  organization  sprang  from  a  little 
conference  participated  in  by  Dr.  C.  W.  Shrop- 
shire, who  afterwards  became  international  presi- 
dent, A.  C.  Crowder,  Jelks  H.  Cabaniss,  Dr.  C.  W. 
Gewin,  Wallace  Johns,  William  Leslie  Welton, 
and  one  or  two  others.  Dr.  Shropshire  had  sug- 
gested that,  in  his  opinion,  it  would  be  a  good 
plan  for  some  representative  citizens  to  get  to- 

[  305  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

gether  in  an  organization  dedicated  to  civic  better- 
ment, and  the  meeting  was  called  to  discuss  the 
idea.  It  was  then  that  the  initial  club  was  formed, 
with  Arthur  Crowder  as  president. 

The  first  thing  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
new-born  organization  was  the  fact  that  thousands 
of  Birmingham  men  had  allowed  themselves  to 
become  disfranchised  through  failure  to  pay  their 
poll  tax.  Obviously,  it  was  not  a  healthy  state 
of  affairs  when  so  many  potential  factors  in  the 
promotion  of  improved  political  conditions  occu- 
pied this  unenviable  position.  So  the  Civitan  Club 
launched  a  campaign  of  education,  stressing  the 
importance  of  all  good  citizens  becoming  qualified 
voters.  The  result  was  to  bring  about  a  large  in- 
crease in  poll  tax  payments,  and  a  quickened  ap- 
preciation of  civic  duty. 

At  the  same  time  steps  were  taken  to  throw 
additional  safe-guards  about  newsboys  and  others 
who  were  forced  to  work  for  a  livelihood.  This 
led  to  the  promotion  of  parks  and  playgrounds, 
and  similar  agencies  for  lightening  the  tedium  of 
toil,  and  the  results  were  such  as  to  attract  wide- 
spread attention.  Interest  grew  and  in  April, 
1920,  the  International  Association  of  Civitan 
Clubs  was  organized  in  Birmingham,  with  Dr. 
Shropshire  as  president.  How  the  idea  has  grown, 
and  the  scope  of  the  work  being  undertaken  by 

[  306  ] 


FAR-FLUNG  INFLUENCES 

the  several  organizations,  may  be  illustrated  by 
the  following:  Arkansas  recently  had  a  state- 
wide ** Clean-Up''  day,  inaugurated  and  directed 
by  the  Civitan  Clubs  of  that  State;  Clubs  in 
Helena  and  Little  Eock,  Ark.,  and  in  Huntsville, 
Ala.,  have  caused  new  parks  to  be  opened  to  the 
public;  the  Atlanta  Club  recently  sponsored  and 
put  through  a  movement  for  a  $200,000  bond  issue 
for  a  municipal  market;  the  Washington  Club  is 
engaged  in  an  effort  to  obtain  increased  appropria- 
tions for  playgrounds  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  similar  activities  are  reported  almost  daily 
to  the  international  headquarters  in  this  city  by 
clubs  in  various  parts  of  the  country. 

Another  distinction  Birmingham  enjoys  is  that 
of  having  the  second  largest  Drama  League  Center 
in  the  United  States,  Chicago,  the  national  head- 
quarters, being  the  only  city  having  an  organiza- 
tion that  is  stronger  numerically.  Second  place 
was  occupied  by  Philadelphia  until  1920,  when, 
under  the  leadership  of  Mrs.  John  R.  Hornady, 
Mrs.  W.  D.  Smith  and  other  active  supporters  of 
the  drama,  the  local  center  increased  its  member- 
ship to  more  than  nine  hundred.  New  York,  it 
may  be  observed,  by  way  of  explanation,  does  not 
maintain  membership  in  the  National  organiza- 
tion. 

Shakespeare  came  to  Birmingham  along  with 
[  307  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

the  boomers,  and  old-timers  still  chuckle  over  some 
of  the  early  performances  staged  by  home  talent. 
For  instance,  they  relate  how  on  one  occasion  a 
gentleman  who  afterward  became  distinguished 
in  the  public  life  of  the  community  stumbled  as 
he  stepped  upon  the  stage,  and,  as  he  recovered 
his  balance,  but  lost  his  lines,  exclaimed,  **  Where 
is  Cassius  at?"  and  thereby  convulsed  his  audi- 
ence. 

It  is  a  far  cry  from  those  da3"s  of  half-serious, 
half-hilarious  effort  toward  dramatic  interpreta- 
tion, to  the  activities  of  the  present,  but  every 
step  has  been  marked  by  progress.  The  fact  that 
today  this  city  has  so  many  supporters  of  the 
dramatic  art  is  one  of  several  surprises  awaiting 
the  visitor  who  comes  expecting  to  find  an  over- 
grown mining  camp.  The  world's  most  dis- 
tinguished interpreters  of  the  drama  are  brought 
here,  and  invariably  they  are  greeted  by  large 
audiences.  Nor  is  this  interest  in  the  drama  lim- 
ited to  the  adult  population.  There  is  a  Junior 
League  of  the  local  center,  mth  a  membership  of 
more  than  a  hundred,  and  library  records  show 
a  surprising  demand  for  books  upon  the  subject, 
and  for  plays  that  are  in  the  public  eye. 

Pageants  are  a  highly  popular  form  of  enter- 
tainment, and  in  a  district  abounding  with  natural 
amphitheatres,  it  is  not  difficult  to  find  a  proper 

[  308  ] 


FAR-FLUNG  INFLUENCES 

setting  for  the  most  elaborate  outdoor  produc- 
tions. In  many  instances  these  entertainments 
have  hundreds  of  participants,  the  last  detail  of 
whose  preparation  and  attire  has  been  carefully 
supervised,  and  the  audiences  frequently  run  into 
the  thousands. 

The  creation  of  a  musical  atmosphere  began 
with  the  founding  of  the  city,  the  formation  of  a 
band  being  coincident  with  the  organization  of  a 
volunteer  fire  department.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  personnel  of  the  fire-fighting  aggregation  was 
the  same  as  the  music-making  contingent  in  a 
number  of  instances,  and  the  two  important  ad- 
juncts to  community  life  were  directed  by  the 
same  individual.  In  view  of  these  facts  it  is  not 
impossible  that  the  familiar  phrase,  *^hot  stuff," 
originated  in  the  mind  of  some  musical  critic  of 
that  period  in  an  effort  to  describe  the  accomplish- 
ments of  this  fire-fighting,  note-exploiting  com- 
pany of  pioneers. 

With  the  growth  of  the  city  the  band  idea  grew, 
and  today  practically  every  important  industrial 
enterprise  has  its  full  brass  band,  made  up  of 
employees  endowed  with  musical  talent.  All  the 
high  schools  have  bands,  the  city  maintains  a 
municipal  band,  the  numerous  fraternal  bodies 
have  similar  organizations,  in  addition  to  the  regu- 
lar commercial  bands.     Add  to  these  the  many 

[  309  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

orchestras  to  be  found  about  the  city,  and  no 
further  evidence  is  needed  to  proclaim  Birming- 
ham's devotion  to  music. 

The  Music  Study  Club  and  the  Orchestral  So- 
ciety are  two  unselfish  organizations  formed  for 
the  purpose  of  creating  a  taste  for  and  giving 
to  the  public  the  best  in  music.  The  Music  Study 
Club,  with  a  membership  of  a  thousand,  has 
brought  to  the  city  many  artists  of  national  fame. 
In  this  atmosphere  of  quickened  enthusiasm  for 
things  musical,  a  number  of  artists  of  exceptional 
ability  have  been  developed,  chief  among  these 
being  Clara  Bridewell,  who  has  won  distinction 
as  a  grand  opera  singer.  Frederick  Gunster,  Reed 
Miller,  Bessie  Cunningham  Sullivan,  Charles  C. 
-Washburn,  Mary  Fabian  and  Bettie  Blythe  are 
familiar  names  in  the  concert  field,  and  all  had 
.their  homes  in  Birmingham  at  one  time  or 
another. 

That  form  of  vocal  exercise  known  as  the  *' com- 
munity sing''  has  attained  widespread  popularity 
in  Birmingham,  and  it  is  an  all-year  proposition. 
During  the  summer  months  these  ^' sings"  are  held 
in  the  parks,  while  in  the  mnter  they  are  held 
in  a  theatre  provided  for  that  purpose  by  the 
city  authorities.  They  attain  the  height  of  their 
popularity  during  the  summer  months,  and  on 
Sunday  afternoons  it  is  not  an  uncommon  thing 

[  310  ] 


FAR-FLUNG  INFLUENCES 

to  find  six  or  eight  thousand  people  gathered  in 
Woodrow  Wilson  Park  to  unite  their  voices  in 
familiar  airs.  This  park,  the  most  central  in  the 
city,  is  provided  with  an  amphitheatre  having  a 
seating  capacity  of  eight  thousand. 

Known  for  years  as  Capitol  Park,  this  space 
was  set  aside  by  the  bold  founders  of  the  city  as 
a  site  for  the  State  capitol,  which  they  confidently 
expected  to  remove  from  Montgomery,  just  as 
they  removed  the  county  court  house  from  its 
ancient  moorings  in  Elyton;  but  the  more  the 
people  saw  of  the  State  legislature  the  less  in- 
clined they  became  to  have  the  seat  of  government 
removed  to  this  city,  and  the  idea  was  finally 
abandoned.  However,  it  was  known  for  years  as 
Capitol  Park,  the  name  being  changed  during  the 
World  War  as  an  expression  of  devotion  to  Wood- 
row  Wilson.  At  the  same  time  the  name  of  East 
Park  was  changed  to  Ingram  Park,  as  a  memorial 
to  Kelly  Ingram,  whose  bold  sacrifice  of  self  dur> 
ing  the  early  stages  of  the  war  led  the  United 
States  Government  to  name  a  cruiser  in  his  honor. 
Behrens  Park  was,  at  the  same  time,  changed  to 
Mortimer  Jordan  Park,  in  memory  of  a  youthful 
captain  who  was  killed  by  a  German  shell.  **The 
Rainbow  Viaduct,''  that  long  and  beautiful  arch 
of  concrete  which  spans  the  railroads  in  the  heart 
of  the  city,  was  named  in  honor  of  the  Rainbow 

[311  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

Division,  whose  exploits  shed  lustre  upon  Ala- 
bama. 

It  was  in  Woodrow  Wilson  Park  tliat  the  boys 
used  to  assemble  during  the  war,  preparatory  to 
marching  for  the  terminal  station,  where  they 
boarded  long  trains  for,  they  knew  not  where.  On 
these  days  there  was  music  and  speechmaking  such 
as  stirred  the  soul  and  kindled  all  the  fires  of  ex- 
alted patriotism,  and  such  farewells  as  wrung  the 
heart  and  left  it  numb  with  loneliness. 

On  one  such  occasion,  I  recall,  as  the  long  line 
swung  off  for  the  waiting  trains,  a  slip  of  a  woman, 
with  a  baby  in  her  arms,  ran  up  to  a  strip  of  a 
youth  and  thrust  the  child  into  his  hands;  and  I 
recall  how  he  clasped  it  to  his  heart  for  a  moment, 
without  losing  step  with  his  comrades,  and  then 
passed  it  back  to  the  little  mother,  who  had  moved 
swiftly  at  his  side.  Then  he  disappeared  as  the 
line  turned  into  the  station. 

I  have  wondered  often  what  became  of  the  boy, 
whether  he  came  home,  as  thousands  of  others  did, 
and  knew  again  the  joy  of  feeling  those  baby  arms 
about  his  neck,  or  whether  he  sleeps  over  there, 
as  other  thousands  do.  And  when  I  think  of  him, 
and  of  the  millions  like  him,  who  left  all  that  life 
holds  dear,  in  order  that  the  things  we  cherish 
might  be  preserved,  I  recall  the  utterance  of  the 
Psalmist  who  said  *^If  I  forget  thee,  0  Jerusalem, 

r  312  ] 


FAR-FLUNG  INFLUENCES 

may  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning.  If  I  do 
not  remember  thee,  let  my  tongue  cleave  to  the 
roof  of  my  mouth/ ^  and  feel  that  some  such  prayer 
should  be  ever  in  the  hearts  of  our  people. 

Art  as  applied  to  paint  and  chisel  also  nas 
found  vigorous  Gxpression  in  Birmingham.  Mor- 
etti  resided  here  for  a  number  of  years,  being  the 
first  to  emphasize  the  value  of  Alabama  marble 
as  a  vehicle  for  expressing  the  sculptor ^s  art.  He 
declared  it  to  be  equal  to  the  best  Italian  marble  — 
an  opinion  since  confirmed  by  the  wide  use  to 
which  this  marble  has  been  put.  This  material 
has  been  used  in  ornamenting  many  of  America's 
most  beautiful  buildings,  and  it  has  gone  into 
numerous  works  of  art. 

It  was  Moretti  who  made  ^'Vulcan,*'  the  colossal 
statue  of  iron  which  was  conceived  by  J.  A.  Mc- 
Knight,  a  newspaper  man,  and  which  became  the 
central  figure  in  Birmingham's  exhibit  at  the  St. 
Louis  Exposition,  attracting  as  much  attention  as 
would  have  been  excited  by  the  Colossus  of 
Rhodes.  Brought  back  from  St.  Louis,  this  heroic 
figure  was  erected  upon  the  State  Fair  Grounds, 
where  it  stands  today,  but  the  suggestion  has  been 
made  that  it  be  moved  to  the  highest  peak  on  Red 
Mountain,  there  to  abide  permanently.  That  this 
will  be  done  is  probable,  and  then  Vulcan,  the  man 
of  iron,  will  rest  upon  the  mountain  of  iron  from 

[  313] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIEMIXGHAM 


whicli  his  component  parts  were  dug  nearly  a  score 
of  years  ago. 

During  the  present  year  some  highly  creditable 
paintings  by  local  artists  were  displayed  at  the 
Art  Exhibit  in  Charleston,  and  visits  to  local 
studios  reveal  a  number  of  canvasses  of  genuine 
merit. 

Occasional  exhibits  are  held  in  the  Central  Li- 
brary, and  systematic  effort  is  made  to  encourage 
the  art.  Patrons  are  zealous,  if  not  numerous, 
and  while  it  is  somewhat  rarefied,  Birmingham 
may  be  said  to  have  its  art  atmosphere.  J.  W. 
Donnelly,  president  of  the  Art  League,  a  man  of 
wealth  and  exceptional  culture,  is  doing  much  to 
promote  popular  appreciation  of  the  best,  and  to 
this  end  is  endeavoring  to  bring  about  the  crea- 
tion of  an  art  museum.  That  such  an  institution 
will  materialize  in  time  is  reasonably  certain,  but 
it  is  too  early  to  discuss  architectural  details. 


[  314] 


CHAPTER   XXII 

WHETTING  THE  INTELLECT 

CHILDREN  were  few  and  far  between  in 
Birmingliam  when  the  town  was  first 
established,  and  little  thought  appears 
to  have  been  given  the  subject  of  education,  but 
after  a  lapse  of  two  years  the  importance  of  pro- 
viding a  public  school  became  apparent.  By  this 
time,  however,  the  cholera  epidemic  had  come 
along  with  its  destructive  touch,  and  the  municipal 
treasury  was  empty.  The  town  did  not  own  a 
single  lot  upon  which  a  school  building  might  be 
erected,  and  had  neither  money  nor  credit. 

In  this  emergency,  the  man  who  became  the 
founder  of  the  public  school  system  appeared  on 
the  scene  in  the  person  of  Colonel  J.  T.  Terry. 
He  undertook  to  raise  funds  by  public  subscrip- 
tion, and  in  this  work  he  received  the  hearty  co- 

[315  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

operation  of  that  bluff  sea  captain,  Charles  Lynn, 
who  had  opened  the  first  bank  established  here. 
Colonel  Powell,  Founder  of  the  City,  who  had  be- 
come Mayor,  contributed  his  salary  and  the  fees 
of  his  office,  and  others  gave  as  liberally  as  pos- 
sible. The  Elyton  Land  Company  donated  a  site, 
located  at  the  corner  of  Sixth  Avenue  and  Twenty- 
fourth  Street,  and  was  thereupon  subjected  to 
some  criticism  because  the  site  was  **out  in  the 
country,''  as  the  critics  expressed  it,  though,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  only  a  few  blocks  from  the 
heart  of  the  town. 

Contributions  aggregated  about  $3,000,  and 
work  was  started  upon  what,  in  those  days,  was 
perhaps  the  most  pretentious  building  in  the  com- 
munity, being  two  stories  in  height  and  built  of 
brick.  Funds  for  completing  the  structure  were 
lacking,  and  work  was  suspended  for  a  time,  but 
Colonel  Terry  came  forward  again,  and  loaned  the 
city  an  amount  sufficient  to  complete  the  school. 

Today,  the  spirit  of  Birmingham  toward  edu- 
cation is  best  expressed  in  the  program  of  con- 
struction now  under  way,  a  program  that  involves 
the  expenditure  of  three  million  dollars  within  the 
next  few  months,  and  which  calls  for  as  much 
more  within  the  next  two  or  three  years. 

As  this  is  written  one  new  high  school  is  near- 
ing  completion,  and  another  is  well  under  way  — 
,[  316  ]' 


WHETTING  THE  INTELLECT 

the  two  to  have  a  combined  capacity  of  twenty- 
eight  hundred  children  and  to  represent  the  most 
advanced  thought  in  school  architecture. 

The  Central  High,  with  a  capacity  of  two  thou- 
sand students,  occupies  a  block  four  hundred  feet 
square,  and  next  year,  with  its  completion,  Birm- 
ingham will  have  a  High  School  unsurpassed 
among  structures  of  its  kind.  With  more  than 
forty  class  rooms,  with  an  auditorium  seating  over 
three  thousand  persons,  with  separate  gymna- 
siums for  boys  and  girls,  with  a  completely  ap- 
appointed  bank,  with  complete  domestic  science 
and  manual  training  departments,  and  with  every 
conceivable  convenience  for  the  comfort  of  the 
pupils,  it  will  proclaim  to  the  world  Birming- 
ham's devotion  to  the  welfare  of  the  coming  gen- 
erations, and  her  high  purpose  to  hold  wide  the' 
door  of  opportunity. 

A  unique  feature  of  this  great  educational  in- 
stitution is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  heating  plant, 
with  its  smoke  and  dust,  is  located  on  a  spur  track 
several  hundred  feet  away.  Underground  conduits 
carry  the  steam  from  this  plant  to  the  school  build- 
ing. An  immense  warehouse,  which  also  contains 
the  general  shops  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
stands  across  the  street,  between  the  High  School 
and  the  heating  plant.  This  arrangement  left  the 
architect,  D.  0.  Whilldin,  free  to  design  the  school 

[  817  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIEMINGHAM 

building  without  reference  to  the  heating  plant, 
and  the  result  is  apparent  in  the  uniform  beauty 
of  the  structure. 

The  next  step  in  the  High  School  program  con- 
templates a  new  building  on  the  South  Side,  which 
will  give  each  of  the  four  great  divisions  of  the 
city  a  building  convenient  to  the  white  students 
in  the  several  divisions.  One  immense  High  School 
is  maintained  for  the  negroes,  and  here  industrial 
training  is  emphasized. 

While  this  program  of  high  school  erection,  in- 
volving expenditures  which  will  in  the  end  total 
something  like  three  million  dollars,  is  going  for- 
ward, an  equally  comprehensive  plan  of  better- 
ment in  grammar  schools  is  under  way.  Several 
magnificent  buildings  are  in  course  of  erection, 
and  a  dozen  or  more  additional  are  being  provided 
for  schools  that  have  been  outgrown. 

In  launching  this  program  of  school  erection, 
involving  millions  of  dollars,  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion enlisted  the  co-operation  of  a  group  of  Birm- 
ingham architects,  representing  the  best  avail- 
able home  talent,  and  then  called  in  W.  B.  Ittner, 
of  St.  Louis,  as  supervising  architect.  The  idea 
of  the  Board  was  not  only  to  have  the  benefit  of 
the  best  available  talent,  but  to  develop  uniformity 
in  construction.  The  various  buildings  were  as- 
signed to  different  architects,  who  were  given  a 
[  318  ] 


WHETTING  THE  INTELLECT 

comparatively  free  hand  in  the  matter  of  decora- 
tion and  in  general  arrangement,  but  were  re- 
quired to  hold  to  certain  standards  in  equipment 
and  materials.  As  a  result,  instead  of  having  to 
carry  parts  for  a  dozen  different  types  of  heating 
plants,  or  for  plumbing  equipment,  the  Board  of 
Education  will  have  to  carry  for  the  new  buildings 
only  one  type  for  repairs  and  replacements. 

Dr.  J.  H.  Phillips,  who  for  years  occupied  a 
prominent  position  among  American  educators, 
was  Superintendent  of  the  Birmingham  schools 
until  his  death  on  July  21,  1921.  He  came  here 
in  1883,  when  there  was  but  one  school  in  the 
community,  and  served  continuously  until  his 
death.  Today  the  system  embraces  sixty  schools, 
with  an  enrollment  of  about  thirty-five  thousand. 
Emphasis  is  placed  upon  the  importance  of  train- 
ing the  hands  as  well  as  the  mind,  and  numerous 
avenues  are  open  to  the  students  for  obtaining 
a  working  knowledge  of  useful  crafts.  In  this 
activity  the  industrial  establishments  of  the  dis- 
trict extend  the  fullest  measure  of  co-operation, 
many  of  them  providing  means  for  students  to 
gain  practical  experience  in  their  establishments. 

The  strong  emphasis  placed  upon  training  of 
this  character  is  due  to  the  fact  that  Birmingham 
is  fundamentally  an  industrial  community,  but 
school  activities  are  by  no  means  limited  to  train- 

[319  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

ing  in  the  industrial  arts.  Music  and  the  drama 
receive  the  undivided  attention  of  skilled  instruct- 
ors. Two  splendid  high  school  bands  and  two 
equally  efficient  orchestras  are  maintained,  and 
dramatic  presentations  are  numerous.  The  re- 
serve officers'  training  corps  in  the  high  schools 
embraces  hundreds  of  students  who  are  under  the 
instruction  of  regular  army  officers.  Member- 
ship is  optional,  but  the  military  training  is  popu- 
lar with  the  students,  and  these  young  men,  well 
drilled  and  attired  in  regulation  uniforms,  make 
a  brave  showing  when  on  parade,  led  by  the  high 
school  bands. 

In  the  Central  High  School  it  has  for  years  been 
the  custom  to  invite  distinguished  visitors  to  ad- 
dress the  student  body,  and  the  young  folks  have 
been  privileged  to  hear  addresses  by  some  of  the 
foremost  thinkers  of  the  world.  This  custom  re- 
sulted in  a  most  amusing  incident  on  one  occasion 
when  the  speaker  proved  to  have  a  somewhat 
limited  knowledge  of  Alabama.  He  knew  that 
there  was  a  great  State  University  at  Tuscaloosa 
but  was  unaware  that  the  State  Insane  Asylum  is 
located  in  the  same  community.  Therefore,  he 
was  unprepared  for  a  gale  of  uncontrollable  laugh- 
ter which  swept  the  audience  when,  in  closing  his 
address,  he  exclaimed  — ''Be  faithful  in  your 
studies,  and,  under  the  wise  leadership  of  Dr. 

[  320  ] 


WHETTING  THE  INTELLECT 

Phillips  and  the  other  distinguished  educators 
here,  you  will  soon  be  ready  for  Tuscaloosa!'' 
The  howl  that  went  up  from  the  delighted  students, 
whose  thoughts  turned  at  once  to  the  asylum,  al- 
most swept  the  speaker  off  his  feet,  as  he  saw 
nothing  at  which  to  be  amused,  but  Dr.  Phillips 
leaned  over  and  whispered  to  him  that  the  Insane 
Asylum  was  at  Tuscaloosa,  as  well  as  the  Uni- 
versity. Then  the  speaker  saw  the  joke  and  joined 
in  the  laughter. 

Illiteracy  among  the  whites  in  Birmingham  is 
practically  nil,  and,  as  shown  elsewhere  in  this 
volume,  it  is  fast  disappearing  among  the  negroes. 

The  impression  exists  in  some  quarters  that 
there  is  a  very  large  foreign  population  in  Birm- 
ingham, but  this  is  highly  erroneous.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  1920  census  showed  a  foreign- 
born  population  of  only  four  and  three-tenths  per 
cent.  Only  two  schools  in  the  entire  city  have  a 
considerable  number  of  children  of  foreign  birth, 
and  in  these  *^ Americanization''  is  stressed  in 
such  a  way  that  the  work  of  assimilation  is 
thorough. 

The  Bible  is  read  daily  in  all  the  public  schools, 
and  while  there  is  no  attempt  of  anything  savor- 
ing of  religious  instruction,  every  effort  is  made 
to  create  high  standards  of  thought  and  to  develop 
exalted  ideals.    A  creed  for  Birmingham  children 

[  321  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

was  formulated  years  ago,  and  every  child  passing 
through  the  schools  learns  it  by  frequent  repeti- 
tion.   The  creed  is  as  follows : 

*^I  am  a  citizen  of  Birmingham,  of  Alabama,  and 
of  the  United  States. 

*^I  will  help  to  make  my  city  a  clean,  healthful 
and  beautiful  place  to  live  in. 

**I  will  help  to  make  my  State  better  by  obeying 
the  laws  and  by  helping  others  to  obey  them. 

^'I  will  be  a  good  American,  and  will  always 
love  my  country  and  my  country's  flag. 

*^I  will  try  to  learn  to  make  an  honest  living,  so 
that  I  may  be  happy  myself  and  helpful  to  others. 

*'I  will  always  try  to  be  fair  in  play  and  true 
in  work. 

*^I  will  try  to  be  kind  to  every  living  thing  — 
the  poor,  the  weak,  the  old,  and  especially  to  dumb 
animals. 

**I  pledge  these  services  to  my  City,  my  State 
and  my  Country. ' ' 

A  loyalty  pledge  is  also  required  of  teachers 
upon  entering  the  schools,  this  pledge  being  one 
of  the  products  of  the  war.    It  reads : 

**I  am  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
and  I  salute  the  American  flag  as  the  emblem  of 
American  Liberty  and  the  symbol  of  truth  and 
righteous  government  in  the  world. 

**I  pledge  to  my  Country  my  Love,  Obedience 
[  322  ] 


WHETTING  THE  INTELLECT 

and  Loyalty.  Love  for  my  Country  sliall  at  all 
times  be  expressed  by  words  of  respect  and  deeds 
of  service.  The  laws  of  my  Country  sliall  consti- 
tute a  claim  upon  my  obedience  prior  to  that  of 
all  other  laws,  no  matter  by  whom  enacted  or  by 
what  authority  sanctioned.  Loyalty  to  my  Coun- 
try, its  government  and  its  institutions,  including 
the  Public  Schools,  shall  have  precedence  over  all 
lesser  loyalties,  including  those  of  family  or  friend, 
race  or  nationality,  sect  or  secret  society. 

**To  these  fundamental  principles  of  patriotic 
duty,  I  fully  subscribe,  and  as  a  teacher  in  the 
public  schools,  I  cheerfully  assume  the  obligation 
to  inculcate  the  same  in  the  youth  placed  under 
my  instruction." 

The  Golden  Rule  is  emphasized  in  the  schools, 
as  is  the  grace  of  giving.  A  Thanksgiving  offer- 
ing is  taken  each  year  in  all  the  schools,  the  money 
going  to  various  charities,  and  Eed  Cross  seals 
are  purchased  by  the  children  at  every  Christmas 
season.  During  the  war,  large  sales  of  war-saving 
stamps  were  made  through  the  schools,  and  all 
the  calls  for  money  to  aid  war  agencies  met  a 
ready  response.  Indeed,  there  is  nothing  more 
beautiful  in  the  school  system  than  the  enthusiasm 
with  which  the  children  respond  when  appealed  to 
in  behalf  of  a  worthy  cause. 

Another  striking  feature  about  the  public 
[  323  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

scliools  is  the  interest  shown  by  parents  in  school 
conditions.  Every  elementary  school  has  its  im- 
provement association,  composed  of  the  mothers 
of  the  community,  and  they  carry  on  a  highly  con- 
structive work.  They  have  charge  of  the  lunch 
room,  which  is  a  feature  of  practically  all  schools, 
and  also  give  close  attention  to  playgrounds  and 
recreational  equipment.  As  a  result,  practically 
all  schools  have  well  equipped  playgrounds  upon 
which  the  body  is  developed  while  the  mind  is  off 
its  studies. 

In  several  of  the  larger  schools  the  ^^  work-study- 
play"  system,  new  in  its  application  to  the  Ameri- 
can public  schools,  has  been  adopted.  Its  uni- 
versal application  is  made  impossible  by  reason 
of  the  fact  that  a  number  of  the  older  school  build- 
ings are  without  auditoriums,  which  are  essential 
to  the  application  of  the  system. 

The  chief  advantage  of  the  plan  consists  in  the 
fact  that  each  class  room  may  be  used  by  two 
classes  of  pupils  daily,  instead  of  one  class.  The 
school  is  divided  into  two  sections  of  approxi- 
mately equal  numbers;  while  one  section  is  en- 
gaged in  the  usual  class  recitations,  the  other  sec- 
tion is  engaged  in  study  halls,  auditorium  exer- 
cises, music,  shopwork,  home  economics,  play  and 
physical  training,  science,  laboratory,  etc.  While 
saving  in  class  room  space,  the  plan  requires  more 

[  324] 


WHETTING  THE  INTELLECT 

teachers  and  more  equipment.  ^'One  of  the  in- 
cidental advantages/'  Dr.  Phillips  once  remarked, 
*4s  the  breaking  up  of  traditional  lines  and  giving 
more  flexibility  and  interest  to  the  work.  But  its 
successful  operation  in  any  school  depends,  very 
largely,  upon  the  principal's  initiative  and  power 
of  leadership.'' 

A  modern  innovation  in  the  schools  is  a  system 
under  which  credits  are  given  for  work  in  the 
Sunday  Schools  of  the  city.  Blanks  are  provided 
upon  which  Sunday  School  Superintendents  and 
teachers  report,  and  when  these  reports  come  up 
to  the  standards  required  in  the  schools,  credit  is 
given  just  as  upon  work  in  the  class-room. 

The  health  of  the  children  is  safeguarded 
through  a  system  of  medical  inspection,  directed 
by  Dr.  James  S.  McLester,  who  is  assisted  by  an 
efficient  corps  of  trained  nurses.  Teachers  who 
observe  any  indication  of  physical  impairment  of 
a  child  file  a  report  with  the  principal,  who  turns 
it  over  to  the  medical  inspector,  and  thereupon 
a  thorough  examination  is  made  and  the  parents 
are  advised  what  to  do.  By  this  means  the  handi- 
cap of  many  children  is  removed.  During  the  past 
years  385  cases  of  enlarged  tonsils  and  adenoids 
were  discovered  and  corrected,  while  65  children 
with  defective  vision  received  attention.  Many 
other  ills,  the  indications  of  which  were  so  slight 
[  325  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

as  to  pass  unnoticed  by  parents,  were  detected  and 
the  children  given  proper  attention.  The  care  of 
the  body  is  strongly  emphasized  and  a  great  con- 
structive work  is  carried  on  throughout  this 
department. 

A  well  trained  mind,  a  sound  body,  a  knowledge 
of  how  to  put  the  hands  to  useful  tasks,  reverence 
for  things  spiritual,  love  of  country,  and  of  fel- 
lows, and  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  rights  of 
others  —  these  are  the  ideals  for  which  the  educa- 
tional forces  of  Birmingham  stand,  and  their 
achievements  form  a  luminous  chapter  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  community. 

Two  denominational  colleges  are  located  in 
Birmingham,  one  maintained  by  the  Baptists,  and 
the  other  by  the  Methodists,  and  they  are  growing 
and  virile  institutions.  There  are  also  a  number 
of  private  schools  that  enjoy  an  enviable  reputa- 
tion, and  three  large  business  colleges  that  draw 
students  from  a  wide  territory.  The  oldest  of 
these,  the  Wlieeler  Business  College,  stands  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  city,  and  out  of  it,  as  out  of  the 
others,  there  flows  an  endless  stream  of  young  men 
and  young  women,  eager  to  join  in  the  pulsing 
life  about  them.  The  impression  that  Birming- 
ham offers  rare  opportunities  to  the  young  and 
purposeful  has  the  effect  of  drawing  hundreds  of 
students  to  the  city,  and  most  of  them  graduate 

[  326  ] 


WHETTING  THE  INTELLECT 

into   the   industrial  and  commercial  life   of  the 
district. 

In  a  community  where  trained  minds  are  in  de- 
mand, and  where  technical  knowledge  is  so 
essential,  it  is  surprising  that  there  exists  no  great 
institutions  specializing  along  these  lines.  But 
such  is  the  case.  However,  it  is  only  a  question 
of  time  when  the  splendid  work  being  done  along 
these  lines  in  the  high  schools  will  eventuate  in 
the  founding  of  such  an  institution  as  a  part  of 
the  public  school  system.  Classes  from  the 
Georgia  Tech,  from  Auburn  and  from  similar  in- 
stitutions are  brought  to  Birmingham  at  frequent 
intervals  that  the  students  may  see  the  practical 
application  of  the  knowledge  they  are  acquiring. 
These  students  are  shown  through  the  great  in- 
dustrial establishments  of  the  district,  and  are 
stimulated  by  actual  contact  with  the  work  for 
which  they  are  being  prepared. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


A   CITY   OF  EX-EXECUTIVES 


IN  addition  to  its  other  distinctions,  Birming- 
ham might  aptly  be  termed  a  city  of  ex- 
executives.  This  city  does  not  name  many 
governors,  but  it  claims  many,  for  it  has  become 
the  habit  of  men  upon  leaving  the  State  Capitol 
in  Montgomery  forthwith  to  move  to  this  com- 
munity. 

William  Dorsey  Jelks,  who  astonished  the  poli- 
ticians by  leaving  a  large  balance  in  the  State 
treasury;  Emmet  O^Neal,  under  whose  adminis- 
tration the  saloons  came  back  for  a  brief  farewell 
performance,  and  B.  B.  Comer,  who  spent  four 
strenuous  years  in  an  effort  to  tame  the  railroads 
of  the  State,  all  have  their  homes  here,  and  two 
other  ex-Governors,  Cobb  and  Cunningham,  re- 
sided here  during  their  declining  years.     N.  L. 

[  328  ] 


A  CITY  OF  EX-EXECUTIVES 

Miller,  the  present  Lieutenant  Governor,  has  his 
home  here,  and  the  Governor  of  today,  Thomas 
Kilby,  has  large  manufacturing  interests  in  this 
community.  This  also  is  the  home  of  Frank  S. 
White,  former  United  States  Senator,  and  of 
Frank  P.  Glass,  who  came  within  one  vote  of  being 
a  member  of  what  the  members  are  fond  of  calling 
*^the  greatest  deliberative  body  on  earth." 

The  experience  of  Frank  Glass,  who  until  re- 
cently was  president  of  the  American  Newspaper 
Publishers'  Association,  forms  one  of  the  most 
unique  chapters  in  the  history  of  Alabama  politics. 
He  was  the  second  editor  of  the  Birmingham  News 
who  seemed  destined  to  the  Senate,  but  who  failed 
by  reason  of  an  extraordinary  chain  of  circum- 
stances. The  story  of  how  Rufus  N.  Rhodes  was 
kept  out  of  that  august  body  by  means  of  the 
famous  ^^  post-mortem '*  primary  has  been  told. 
How  Glass,  who  succeeded  Rhodes  as  editor  of  the 
News,  upon  the  death  of  the  former,  was  defeated 
is  an  equally  interesting  story. 

Glass  had  been  a  vigorous  supporter  of  the 
policies  of  Governor  Emmet  O^Neal,  and  when 
Senator  Joseph  F.  Johnston  died,  O'Neal  named 
Glass,  intending  that  he  should  serve  until  an 
election  could  be  held  for  the  choice  of  a  successor. 

The  activities  of  Glass  in  opposition  to  prohibi- 
tion won  for  him  the  cordial  opposition  of  the 

[  329  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

** dry''  element,  both  in  Alabama  and  in  the  nation 
at  large,  and  when  he  went  to  Washington  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  his  seat  a  terrific  fight  was 
waged  to  prevent  the  confirmation  of  the  appoint- 
ment, this  fight  being  carried  to  the  floor  of  the 
Senate. 

Glass  and  Woodrow  Wilson  had  been  on  inti- 
mate terms  for  years,  and  the  President  threw 
all  the  weight  of  his  influence  behind  his  old-time 
friend  when  the  fight  opened.  The  anti-pro- 
hibitionists also  took  up  the  issue  when  the  pro- 
hibitionists became  active,  and  the  fight  waged 
right  merrily.  Glass,  in  the  meantime,  being  given 
the  privileges  of  the  floor  of  the  Senate.  Several 
leading  Republicans  among  the  **antis"  came  over 
to  Glass,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  had  a 
majority  at  one  time,  but  the  fight  drifted  finally 
into  a  partisan  affair,  and  some  Republicans  fell 
away,  with  the  result  that  when  the  ballot  was 
taken  Glass  lacked  just  one  vote  of  becoming  a 
United  States  Senator.  The  point  raised  against 
him  was  that  the  Governor  did  not  have  the  au- 
thority to  make  a  recess  appointment,  but  the 
thing  that  beat  him  was  his  uncompromising  fight 
against  prohibition  in  his  home  State.  But  for 
the  bitter  and  prolonged  fight  made  upon  him  by 
the  enemies  he  won  because  of  this  issue,  undoubt- 
edly he  would  have  been  seated  weeks  before  the 

[  330  ] 


A  CITY  OF  EX-EXECUTIVES 

time  when  partisanship,  as  between  Democrats 
and  Eepublioans,  arose  to  complicate  the  affair. 

Oddly  enough,  when  viewed  by  the  results  in 
the  Glass  case,  Alabama  elected  an  anti-prohibi- 
tionist when  a  permanent  successor  to  Senator 
Johnston  was  chosen.  Oscar  W.  Underwood,  who 
had  represented  the  Ninth  Alabama  District 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  had  become  the 
author  of  the  Underwood  Tariff  Act,  was  the 
gentleman  chosen,  this  after  a  most  spectacular 
fight  between  him  and  Captain  Richmond  Pearson 
Hobson,  whose  exploit  with  the  Merrimac  was  then 
fresh  in  the  public  mind.  The  prohibition  issue 
was  drawn  then,  as  in  the  campaign  when  Under- 
wood sought  re-election,  but,  while  the  dominant 
sentiment  in  the  State  was  **dry,''  thousands  of 
prohibitionists  supported  Underwood  and  he  won 
handsomely.  The  same  issue  was  raised  six  years 
later  when  he  sought  to  succeed  himself,  but  again 
it  was  unavailing. 

The  opponent  of  Senator  Underwood  in  his 
second  race  was  L.  Breckenridge  Musgrove,  who, 
as  Chairman  of  the  Ratification  Committee  of  the 
Anti-Saloon  League  of  America,  led  the  success- 
ful fight  for  the  adoption  of  the  Eighteenth 
Amendment.  Though  Musgrove  was  fresh  from 
his  triumph  in  the  fight  for  a  dry  America  when  he 
took  up  the  gauge  of  battle  against  Underwood, 

[  331  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

the  latter  received  a  majority  over  both  his  op- 
ponents, Judge  Samuel  D.  Weakley,  another  pro- 
hibitionist, being  in  the  race  also. 

Judge  Weakley,  the  third  man  in  this  spectac- 
ular contest,  was  the  author  of  Alabama's  pro- 
hibition laws  —  the  most  drastic  ever  drawn  at 
the  time  of  their  adoption.  These  laws,  involving 
many  new  departures,  were  upheld  when  tested  in 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and,  thereafter, 
Judge  Weakley  was  called  upon  to  assist  in  the 
preparation  of  similar  laws  in  other  Southern 
States,  where  it  was  the  purpose  to  clamp  the  lid 
on  as  tight  as  possible.  It  was  because  of  his 
prominence  in  this  connection  that  he  offered  for 
the  Senate  against  Underwood,  and  in  competition 
vnth  Musgrove,  and  the  fact  that  he  ran  far  be- 
hind Musgrove  was  a  great  disappointment  to  him. 
An  outstanding  figure  in  the  prohibition  move- 
ment, he  expected  united  prohibition  support,  and 
when  he  fell  far  short  of  his  ambition,  and  saw  an 
anti-prohibitionist  returned  to  the  Senate  with 
the  aid  of  thousands  of  prohibition  votes,  he  was 
never  quite  the  same,  and  died  about  a  year  later. 

A  man  of  remarkable  industry  and  uncom- 
promising in  his  attitude  toward  the  liquor  traffic, 
Judge  Weakley  spent  the  last  ten  or  twelve  years 
of  his  life  in  trying  to  evolve  new  and  more  strin- 
gent measures  for  killing  the  business,  and  for 

[  332  ] 


A  CITY  OF  EX-EXECUTIVES 

keeping  it  dead.  It  was  lie  who  originated  the 
idea  that  property  connected  with  the  illegal  sale 
or  manufacture  of  liquor  should  be  confiscated  — 
a  law  that  is  on  the  statute  books  today,  and  under 
which  many  liquor  runners  have  lost  their  auto- 
mobiles. It  was  this  law  which  added  piquancy 
to  the  news,  flashed  over  the  country  some  two  or 
three  years  ago,  that  a  moonshine  still  had  been 
discovered  upon  the  Alabama  farm  of  Dr.  Pearly 
Baker,  President  of  the  National  Anti-Saloon 
League.  The  question,  **  Will  the  good  doctor  lose 
his  farmT'  was  the  subject  of  considerable  debate, 
some  of  the  contributions  being  of  ribald  char- 
acter. As  a  matter  of  course,  everybody  knew 
that  Dr.  Baker  was  ignorant  of  the  presence  of 
the  illicit  still,  and  many  believed  it  to  have  been 
a  ^^ plant,"  designed  to  cause  him  embarrassment. 
At  any  rate,  he  took  the  incident  good  naturedly 
and  nothing  ever  came  of  it.  He  still  owns  the 
farm  and  spends  much  of  his  time  in  this  State. 
Another  law  that  is  peculiar  to  Alabama,  and 
for  which  Judge  Weakley  was  responsible,  is  one 
under  which  is  prohibited  the  sale  of  any  beverage 
that  looks  like,  tastes  like  or  bears  any  of  the 
earmarks  of  intoxicating  liquors.  Thus  all  those 
non-alcoholic  drinks  being  turned  out  by  the  brew- 
ing companies  are  outlawed  in  this  State.  In  this 
connection  I  recall  an  incident  that  occurred  one 

[  333  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

Summer  day  while  I  was  driving  througli  the 
country  to  Montgomery,  with  a  party  of  gentle- 
men who  were  interested  in  certain  matters  pend- 
ing before  the  State  Legislature.  When  we 
reached  a  small  town  about  thirty  miles  out  of 
Birmingham,  I  told  the  negro  chauffeur  to  stop 
at  a  drug  store  so  that  we  might  get  something 
refreshing  to  drink.  As  we  got  out  of  the  car 
and  started  to  the  store,  the  negro  said,  ^'I's 
gwin'  to  get  me  a  bottle  of  beer  while  you  gentle- 
men's in  there.''  I  paid  no  attention  to  him,  but 
went  on  into  the  drug  store.  Stopping  in  front  of 
the  soda  fountain  I  turned  to  ask  my  companions 
what  they  would  have,  and  not  a  man  was  in  sight. 
Going  to  the  door,  I  glanced  down  the  street  and 
saw  the  whole  crowd  following  the  darky !  What 
they  got,  as  I  learned  later,  was  a  drink  of  that 
brew  which  some  wit  described  as  looking  like 
beer,  foaming  like  beer  and  tasting  like  beer,  but 
not  having  any  *^ authority." 

I  have  seen  these  imitation  beers  sold  in  several 
other  small  towns  over  the  State,  but  the  law  with 
reference  to  their  sale  is  enforced  strictly  in  most 
communities,  as  it  is  in  Birmingham.  The  theory 
upon  which  this  law  is  based  is  that  to  legalize 
the  sale  of  a  thing  that  looks  so  real  is  to  open 
the  way  for  the  handling  of  that  which  is  real. 
So  every  effort  to  place  these  *^  soft"  drinks  within 

[334  ] 


A  CITY  OF  EX-EXECUTIVES 

the  law  in  Alabama  has  failed.  The  fact  that  they 
have  no  ^'kick^'  has  not  minimized  the  kick  against 
their  sale. 

Meanwhile,  there  has  been  a  tremendous  de- 
velopment in  what  is  termed  the  legitimate  ^'soft 
drink"  business.  I  have  in  mind  one  w^holesale 
grocery  house  in  this  city  which  began  the  manu- 
facture of  a  ginger  ale,  which,  for  some  reason, 
is  called  ** Buffalo  Eock,'^  and  now  the  soft  drink 
end  of  the  business  has  come  to  overshadow  the 
grocery  end.  ** Colas''  of  every  imaginable  kind 
have  come  upon  the  market  and  the  plants  pro- 
ducing them  have  attained  large  proportions. 
This  line  of  drinks  had  its  beginning  with  Coco- 
Cola,  a  preparation  the  manufacture  of  which  has 
become  a  colossal  industry  in  the  South,  plants 
existing  in  practically  every  city  of  importance. 
Then  there  is  Chero-Cola,  which  has  also  become 
the  basis  of  large  industries  in  Birmingham  and 
elsewhere,  and  others  too  numerous  to  recall. 

These  and  similar  preparations  flow  in  a  vast 
endless  stream,  and  in  these  days  of  aridity,  when 
one  is  invited  to  ^4iave  a  drink,''  it  usually  means 
to  have  something  of  this  kind  set  before  him. 
These  cola  drinks  usually  are  referred  to  as 
**dope,"  and  not  infrequently  one  hears  an  order 
for  **a  shot  in  the  arm."  This  is  interpreted  by 
the  clerk  to  mean  the  same  thing  as  *Mope." 

[  335  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

Should  one  infer  from  these  familiar  references 
that  these  cola  drinks  possess  some  lethal  quality, 
it  would  be  to  fall  into  error.  The  pioneer  manu- 
facturer was  subject  to  unsuccessful  attack  by  the 
Federal  Government  in  the  -early  days  of  the' 
enterprise,  and  this  litigation  no  doubt  had  the 
effect  of  creating  in  the  public  mind  the  impression 
that  there  was  some  extraordinary  quality  about 
the  product.  Out  of  this  grew  the  term  ^'dope,'' 
and  once  this  term  came  into  common  use,  it  took 
the  versatile  American  only  a  little  while  to  con- 
vert it  into  **a  shot  in  the  arm." 

Along  mth  the  enormous  consumption  of  drinks 
such  as  have  been  described,  came  a  corresponding 
increase  in  the  demand  for  fruit  drinks,  and  for 
*4ce-cream  soda,''  as  well  as  ice-cream.  In  fact, 
there  is  nothing  more  striking  than  the  growth 
of  the  ice-cream  industry  since  the  passing  of  the 
saloons.  Plants  have  multiplied  in  a  surprising 
manner,  and  as  a  rule  old  establishments  have  had 
to  greatly  enlarge  their  facilities.  Ice-cream 
*^ parlors''  have  multiplied,  too,  and  many  of  these 
are  fitted  up  upon  a  scale  of  elegance  that  is  equal 
to  that  which  characterized  the  most  fashionable 
saloons  before  those  institutions  became  so  un- 
fashionable. Incidentally,  it  is  interesting  to  visit 
one  of  these  places  and  to  note,  as  one  can  on 
frequent  occasions,  how  once  familiar  patrons  of 

[  336  ] 


^^^iS5l 


TWO    VIEWS    FROM    THE    SKY.      TERMINAL   STATION 
IN    CENTER   OF    LOWER    PICTURE 


A  CITY  OF  EX-EXECUTIVES 

the  bar  have  learned  to  wield  an  ice-cream  spoon 
with  as  much  skill  as  that  displayed  by  the  popular 
society  girl,  and  to  imbibe  their  *'dope*'  or 
*^soda''  without  once  attempting  to  blow  the  foam 
off  the  top. 

In  the  consumption  of  ice-cream,  many  of  these 
lads  who  once  kept  the  cash  register  in  the  saloons 
busy,  find  their  favorite  form  of  ^dissipation" 
today.  They  also  have  brought  about  a  consider- 
able increase  in  the  consumption  of  candies,  par- 
ticularly of  chocolates,  and  the  manufacturers  of 
these  confections  are  reaping  at  least  a  part  of 
the  wealth  that  once  flowed  into  the  coffers  of  the 
brewers  and  distillers. 

The  dairyman,  too,  is  a  beneficiary  of  the  altered 
condition.  He  furnishes  the  principal  ingredients 
for  ice-cream  and  ^^soda,''  and  is  called  upon  to 
supply  a  largely  increased  volume  of  buttermilk, 
for  this  product  of  the  dairy  has  become  as  popu- 
lar with  many  ordinary  citizens  as  once  it  was 
reputed  to  be  with  Vice-President  Fairbanks.  The 
impression  that  the  Vice-President  was  passion- 
ately fond  of  buttermilk,  which  impression  caused 
him  to  be  confronted  with  it  on  practically  all 
occasions  when  he  was  being  entertained,  was  one 
of  the  results  of  his  fondness,  not  so  much  for 
milk,  as  for  his  buttermilk  joke.  This  joke,  which 
doubtless  is  familiar  to  most  people  who  had  at- 

[  337  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

tained  the  voting  age  when  Mr.  Fairbanks  became 
Vice-President,  caused  an  unexpected  laugh,  and 
no  little  embarrassment,  to  a  prominent  office- 
holder in  this  city,  at  a  dinner  being  given  the 
Vice-President. 

The  story,  as  I  recall  it,  concerned  three  gentle- 
men who  were  much  given  to  the  flowing  bowl. 
They  drank  industriously  for  many  years,  and  no 
rift  arose  to'  threaten  their  friendship.  Then  sud- 
denly two  of  them  reformed.  The  third,  not  know- 
ing of  the  sudden  reformation,  met  the  two  and 
extended  the  usual  invitation.  AAHien  the  trio 
lined  up  at  the  bar  and  the  white-aproned  attend- 
ant asked  *^What  will  it  beT'  one  of  the  reformed 
men  said,  *^I'll  take  a  ginger-ale, '^  while  the  other 
said  **Give  me  a  glass  of  buttermilk."  Turning 
upon  the  pair  with  a  savage  scowl,  and  throwing 
the  maximum  of  sarcasm  into  his  tones,  the  un- 
regenerated  one  exclaimed,  *^Give  me  a  piece  of 
pumpkin  pie ! ' ' 

When  the  Vice-President  told  this  oft-repeated 
tale,  most  of  those  about  the  board  smiled  their 
appreciation,  but  the  local  office-holder  threw  his 
head  back  and  laughed  uproariously,  making  so 
much  noise  that  Mr.  Fairbanks  turned  to  him, 
with  a  bright  and  hopeful  look  upon  his  face,  and 
asked,  *^Did  you  never  hear  that  one  before?" 

The  local  office-holder  was  a  churchman  and  a 
[  338  ] 


A  CITY  OF  EX-EXECUTIVES 

conscientious  man,  and  though,  he  would  have 
given  much  to  have  left  the  honored  guest  under 
the  impression  that  he  had  one  auditor  to  whom 
his  favorite  joke  was  new,  he  couldn't  bring  him- 
self to  lie  about  it.  So,  blushing  to  the  roots  of. 
his  hair,  he  stammered: 

**Well,  I-I-I    never  heard  it  but-but  once!" 
The  laugh  that  followed  almost  raised  the  roof, 
and  the  local  office-holder  did  not  hear  the  end  of 
it  for  years. 

Another  laugh  that  was  not  in  the  regular  order 
added  to  the  gaiety  of  a  meeting  here  some  years 
ago  when  the  speaker  was  John  Allen,  the  once 
famous  Congressman  from  Mississippi,  who  won 
national  fame  as  a  wit  by  saying  in  a  speech, 
made  shortly  after  his  arrival  on  the  floor  at 
Washington,  that  he  was  the  only  private  in  the 
Confederate  Army,  and  who  thenceforward  was 
known  as  ** Private  John.*'  The  speaker  told  a 
number  of  his  inimitable  jokes  and  then,  speaking 
in  a  serious  vein,  he  began  to  recite  the  wonderful 
gifts  of  Mississippi  to  Birmingham.  He  told  of 
numerous  citizens  of  prominence  who  had  moved 
from  the  Delta  State  into  this  city  and  had  played 
an  active  part  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  community, 
concluding  with  the  declaration  ^^and,  most  con- 
spicuous of  all,  we  gave  you  Senator  Frank  S. 
White.'' 

[  339  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

Before  the  audience  had  time  to  express  its 
appreciation  of  this  ^^gift,'^  by  the  usual  applause, 
some  one  in  the  rear,  with  a  high-pitched  and 
penetrating  voice,  cried  out: — ^^Well,  we've  done 
forgive  you  for  that ;  let  by-gones  be  by-gones  !*' 

Senator  White,  who  was  seated  on  the  stage  at 
the  time,  enjoyed  the  laugh  which  followed  as 
much  as  any  of  those  present. 

Southern  orators  frequently  are  famous  for 
their  jokes,  and  Birmingham,  with  its  numerous 
ex-governors,  ex-senators,  etc.,  hears  much  of  this 
sort  of  thing,  but  one  of  the  exceptions  to  the  rule 
is  Oscar  Underwood.  I  have  heard  him  speak  on 
many  occasions,  but  do  not  recall  an  instance  in 
which  he  paused  to  say  ^'and  that  reminds  me,'' 
which  is  the  unvarying  prelude  of  a  funny  story. 
Senator  Tom  Heflin,  on  the  other  hand,  is  one  of 
the  most  noted  story  tellers  in  Alabama,  and  his 
fund  of  yarns  would  fill  a  volume.  He  went  to 
the  House  of  Representatives  upon  waves  of 
laughter,  for  term  after  term,  and  when  a  vacancy 
arose  in  the  Senate,  he  created  a  tidal-wave,  and 
was  swept  into  that  dignified  body  amid  the  sound 
of  merriment. 

One  of  his  stories,  which  was  new  to  me,  had 

to  do  with  the  experience  of  a  man  whose  thirst 

Vas  accentuated  by  the  absence  of  that  with  which 

to  quench  it.    Determined  to  obtain  liquor  in  some 

[  340] 


A  CITY  OF  EX-EXECUTIVES 

way,  he  went  to  a  physician  and  pretended  to  be 
ill,  but  the  scheme  did  not  work,  the  physician, 
according  to  Heflin,  saying  *^The  only  thing  I  can 
give  you  liquor  for  is  to  counteract  the  poison  of 
snake-bite. ''  Thereupon  the  thirsty  one  hastened 
away,  only  to  reappear  early  the  next  morning 
in  a  most  disheveled  condition.  * '  What  in  the  world 
is  the  matter  with  youf  asked  the  physician,  as 
he  contemplated  the  torn  condition  of  the  man's 
clothing,  and  the  scratches  which  appeared  on  his 
hands  and  face. 

^^I  spent  the  night  wandering  around  in  the 
swamp,"  was  the  reply. 

*^  What  did  you  do  that  for!'' 

^^Why,  I  was  trying  to  get  bit  by  a  snake," 
replied  the  thirsty  one. 

^^Did  you  succeed?" 

^'No,"  was  the  reply,  uttered  in  a  tone  of  deep 
disgust.  ^^  Every  snake  in  that  swamp  is  dated  up 
for  the  next  six  weeks. ' ' 

Most  of  the  stories  of  the  Southern  statesmen 
and  politicians  have  to  do  with  the  eccentricities 
of  the  negro,  a  fair  sample  being  this  one,  told  by 
W.  D.  Nesbitt,  Chairman  of  the  State  Democratic 
Executive  Committee  —  and  perhaps  by  many 
others : 

A  darky  who  had  buried  two  wives  and  who  had 
called  upon  a  bosom  friend  to  act  as  one  of  the 

[  341] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

pall-bearers  upon  each  occasion,  finally  suffered 
the  loss  of  a  third,  and,  as  was  his  custom,  he 
called  on  the  friend  to  act  as  pall-bearer. 

**No,  sah,''  answered  the  friend,  ^*I  ain't  gwin' 
to  serve  in  no  such  capa-city  no  mo '. ' ' 

^^You  ain't!''  exclaimed  the  bereaved  one. 
'*You's  always  acted  for  me  befo'  an'  I  was  a 
countin'  on  you." 

^^Tain't  no  use  a  countin'  on  me, "  was  the  reply, 
*^ cause  I  ain't  gwin'  do  it  no  mo'." 

**Why  is  you  done  come  to  that  'cision!" 

** Cause  I's  made  up  my  min'  I  ain't  g^dn'  to 
accept  no  more  favors  what  I  can't  return." 

Another  famous  story  teller  is  Hugh  Morrow, 
who  has  presided  at  the  head  of  miles  and  miles 
of  dinner  tables,  and  who  doubtless  holds  the 
record  for  saying  ^^AVe  have  ^^ith  us  this  evening," 
since  he  is  the  recognized  toastmaster  of  the  com- 
munity. One  of  his  characteristic  stories,  told  as 
illustrative  of  how  hot  it  becomes  in  a  certain 
rural  community,  concerns  a  rabbit  hunt,  which, 
ordinarily,  is  not  without  some  element  of  excite- 
ment. 

*  ^  I  saw  a  hound  chasing  a  rabbit, ' '  he  said,  ^  ^  and 
both  of  them  were  walking ! ' ' 

This  he  construed  as  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  inertia. 

It  has  been  said  that  a  good  Democrat  seldom 
dies  and  never  resigns,  but  Birmingham  has  an 

[  342  ] 


A  CITY  OF  EX-EXECUTIVES 

ex-Congressman  who  resigned  in  order  to  make  his 
home  in  this  city.  S.  J.  Bowie,  who  represented 
the  Fourth  District  of  Alabama  for  a  number  of 
years,  quit  to  take  up  his  residence  here.  As 
this  is  written  he  is  acting  as  Chairman  of  the 
Semi-Centennial  Committee,  which  is  arranging 
an  elaborate  celebration  in  observance  of  the 
fiftieth  birthday  of  Birmingham. 

The  first  act  of  this  Committee  was  to  gain  the 
consent  of  President  Harding  to  be  the  guest  of 
honor  during  Semi-Centennial  week,  and  by  the 
time  these  lines  appear  the  President  will  have 
made  his  first  visit  to  Birmingham,  and  delivered 
his  first  address  in  the  South  since  his  inaugura- 
tion. 

The  **ex"  is  not  monopolized  by  the  men  of 
Birmingham,  as  one  might  infer  from  the  fore- 
going. Mrs.  Solon  Jacobs  is  an  ex-National  Com- 
mitteeman —  or  woman  —  of  the  Democratic  per- 
suasion. Mrs.  James  A.  Going,  Mrs.  C.  P.  Orr, 
Mrs.  Joseph  McLester  and  Mrs.  L.  J.  Haley  are 
ex-Presidents  of  the  State  Federation  of  Women's 
Clubs.  Mrs.  Haley  is  now  a  Director  of  the  Na- 
tional Federation  of  Women's  Clubs.  Mrs.  Bossie 
O'Brien  Hundley  is  ex-President  of  the  State 
Federation  of  Music  Clubs,  as  is  Mrs.  Victor  H. 
Hanson.  Mrs.  Chappell  Cory  is  ex-President  of 
the    Alabama    Women's    Christian    Temperance 

[343  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

Union,  an  organization  which  supphed  most  of 
the  energy  for  bringing  about  prohibition  in  the 
State. 

Alabama's  woman  representative  on  the  Demo- 
cratic National  Committee  at  this  time  is  Mrs. 
John  D.  McNeel,  wife  of  the  Collector  of  Internal 
Revenue.  How  long  the  husband  of  a  Democratic 
National  Committeeman  will  hold  a  job  under  a 
Republican  Administration  is  a  matter  of  specula- 
tion. He,  too,  may  have  joined  the  **Ex''  club  be- 
fore this  volume  appears.  In  this  connection, 
there  is  an  element  of  irony  in  the  fact  that  a 
group  of  Republicans  shortly  will  be  occupying 
the  magnificent  new  Government  building,  erected 
here  by  a  Democratic  Administration  with  the 
devout  hope  that  it  would  continue  to  house  the 
followers  of  Jefferson. 

Incidentally,  this  splendid  marble  building, 
though  just  completed,  even  now  is  too  small  for 
the  needs  of  Birmingham,  and  it  furnishes  an- 
other illustration  of  the  difficulty  experienced  in 
providing  for  the  future.  Nearly  every  building 
put  up  hera  is  outgrown  before  its  completion. 
Some  time  ago  two  new  high  schools  were  started, 
to  have  a  combined  capacity  of  two  thousand  eight 
hundred  children.  In  the  meantime,  the  attend- 
ance in  the  group  of  old  buildings  that  are  being 
replaced  has  gone  beyond  three  thousand.     This 

[  344] 


A  CITY  OF  EX-EXECUTIVES 

means  that  another  new  building  is  needed  before 
the  completion  of  the  two  that  were  expected  to 
meet  the  situation.  As  Sid  Bowie  once  observed 
while  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education,  **The 
child  factory  in  Birmingham  never  shuts  down," 
and  he  might  have  added  that  the  demands  of  the 
adult  population  seem  ever  to  elude  the  efforts  of 
those  whose  business  it  is  to  anticipate  the  needs 
of  tomorrow. 


[  345  ]• 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  SNAKE-CHAEMER  ECLIPSED 

IT  was  noon-time  in  the  great  wire  mill,  and 
the  heads  of  departments  were  gathered 
around  five  long  tables  in  the  dining  room 
upon  the  second  floor  of  the  office  building.  The 
appointments  and  the  service  were  such  as  one 
would  expect  to  find  in  a  first-class  hotel,  while 
the  atmosphere  was  that  of  an  intimate  sort  of 
social  club.  Through  the  windows  could  be  seen 
the  tennis  courts  and  the  athletic  field,  while  in 
the  distance  the  mountains  stood  out  clear  and 
green  in  the  Summer  sun. 

Conversation  buzzed  at  all  the  tables,  hunting 
being  the  theme  at  the  one  where  I  sat.  *^I  found 
that  there  is  a  lot  of  horse-play  about  the  hunt- 
ing proposition  the  last  time  I  went,"  said  the 
man  to  my  right.    **A  party  of  us  were  at  a  resort 

[  346  ] 


THE  SNAKE-CHARMER  ECLIPSED 

in  Wisconsin  in  search  of  deer,  and  the  men  we 
had  as  guides  and  mentors  put  us  through  all  the 
motions  that  we  had  read  about.  They  made  the 
stalking  of  this  particular  game  as  mysterious  and 
as  romantic  as  they  could,  and  fulfilled  all  our 
preconceived  notions  about  the  precautions  one 
had  to  take  if  success  was  to  be  achieved.  Under 
their  directions  we  went  great  distances,  and 
waited  long  hours  in  deep  and  silent  forest  re- 
treats, and  had  all  sorts  of  thrills.  The  result 
was  that  when  we  did  land  a  deer,  we  felt  like 
the  victors  in  a  thrilling  battle;  the  wearisome 
marches  and  the  long  waits  seemed  eminently 
worth  while.  But,  gee,  how  good  it  felt  to  get 
back  in  camp  after  one  of  those  hard  days ! 

^'Everything  would  have  been  lovely  but  for  the 
fact  that  we  were  disillusioned  just  as  Ave  were 
preparing  to  break  camp.  That  afternoon  those 
two  guides  picked  up  a  shot-gun  apiece  and  walked 
aw^ay  from  the  camp.  In  about  sixty  minutes  they 
were  back,  each  having  killed  a  deer!  Gradually 
we  learned,  through  the  disingenuous  conversa- 
tion of  these  guides,  that  deer  were  plentiful  in 
that  vicinity,  and  that  the  long  and  toilsome  tramps 
through  which  we  had  gone  meant  only  that  the 
guides  wanted  to  give  us  our  mone^^'s  worth. 
They  reasoned,  rightfully,  no  doubt,  that  had  we 
been  sho\\Ti  how  to  go  out  a  mile  or  two  from 

[  347  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

camp  and  kill  a  deer  within  an  hour,  the  entertain- 
ment soon  would  have  palled,  which  is  about  the 
last  thing  a  guide  wants  to  happen. ' ' 

Others  contributed  brief  experiences  or  observa- 
tions, and  the  conversation  waxed  merrily,  until 
suddenly  the  superintendent  picked  up  a  small 
gavel  that  rested  by  his  plate,  and  gave  the  table 
a  rap.  Thereupon  every  man  in  the  room  pushed 
his  chair  back  against  the  wall,  and  there  was 
silence.  Then,  in  short,  crisp  sentences,  man  after 
man  made  a  report  concerning  the  conditions  of 
his  department.  This  done,  the  gavel  fell  again, 
and  all  hands  were  away  to  their  posts.  The 
transition  from  pleasure  to  business  was  instan- 
taneous, and  thus  was  given  a  fine  illustration  of 
the  line  of  cleavage  drawn  in  such  establishments. 
When  it  is  in  order  to  have  a  pleasant  hour,  then 
one  is  expected  to  enjoy  himself  to  the  full.  When 
it  is  time  for  work,  then  every  man  is  expected  to 
be  on  the  job,  as  the  saying  is,  and  to  see  that  the 
maximum  of  results  is  obtained. 

This  plant  of  the  American  Steel  &  Wire  Com- 
pany, a  subsidiary  of  the  Steel  Corporation,  is  one 
of  the  most  spectacular  performers  in  the  Birm- 
ingham district,  and  is  one  of  the  largest  as  well 
as  the  most  modern  of  its  kind  in  America.  In 
its  so-called  ^^ roughing  mill,''  one  may  witness 
such  serpentine  performances  as  no  snake  charmer 

[  348  ] 


THE  SNAKE-CHAEMER  ECLIPSED 

ever  dreamed  of.  Billets,  fifty  inches  long  and 
four  inches  square,  come  to  this  plant  from  the 
neighboring  steel  mill,  and  are  lifted  from  the 
cars  by  large  magnets,  being  deposited  upon 
*  ^  skids. ' '  Sliding  along  these  * '  skids, ' '  the  billets 
pass  into  a  furnace,  from  which  they  drop,  white- 
hot,  into  a  trough  through  which  they  are  skidded 
up  to  the  rolls. 

The  rolls  seize  these  hot  slabs  of  steel  and 
quickly  reduce  them  to  rods,  which  increase  in 
length  and  decrease  in  size  at  a  most  amazing 
rate.  Presently  the  glowing  bar  of  fifty  inches 
has  become  a  crimson  streak  of  a  hundred  yards 
or  more,  and  as  these  hurrying  rods  perform  their 
weird  contortions,  they  are  kept  in  bounds  by  men 
with  hooks  and  thongs,  who  are  ever  on  the  jump.- 

These  rushing,  squirming  rods  of  red  hot  steel 
are  reduced  to  three-fourths  of  an  inch  in  the 
roughing  mill,  and,  still  hot,  they  are  directed  into 
another  mill,  where  they  become  almost  as  small 
as  the  wire  that  is  strung  on  telegraph  poles. 
The  machine  that  reduces  the  rod  to  this  size  de- 
livers it  coiled  and  tied,  in  which  form  it  is  ready 
for  treatment,  preparatory  to  being  worked  into 
nails,  tacks,  barbed  wire,  plain  wire,  woven  fenc- 
ing, or  any  other  of  the  products  flowing  from  this 
plant. 

The  operation,  from  the  moment  when  the  fifty- 
[  349] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

incli  billet  enters  the  rolls,  until  the  huge  coil  is 
formed,  is  continuous.  Now  comes  a  recess.  The 
steel,  in  passing  through  the  rolls,  has  accumulated 
a  ** scale''  that  must  be  removed  before  the  rods 
are  passed  through  the  ''dies,''  and  are  thus  re- 
duced to  wire  of  varying  sizes.  First,  they  are 
given  an  acid  treatment,  followed  by  a  shower  of 
water,  which  continues  until  they  are  covered  with 
rust.  Then  they  are  covered  with  lime  and  placed 
in  an  oven,  where  they  are  allowed  to  remain  and 
bake  for  several  hours. 

Coming  from  the  oven,  the  coils  are  taken  to 
the  wire  department,  where  they  are  drawn  to 
the  various  sizes.  Nails  such  as  are  required  for 
bridge  building  are  made  of  wire  that  is  nearly 
as  large  as  a  pencil.  Nails  used  in  cabinet  work 
may  be  made  from  wire  no  larger  than  the  lead 
in  a  pencil.  These  varying  sizes  are  obtained  by 
drawing  the  steel  through  a  series  of  holes,  each 
being  a  bit  smaller  than  the  other,  and  each  shaped 
somewhat  like  a  funnel. 

In  the  nail  department  great  batteries  of  ma- 
chines turn  out  all  sizes  and  shapes  amid  a  per- 
fect inferno  of  noise.  Here  the  sign  language  is 
used  exclusively,  the  vocal  chords  having  no 
chance  in  a  contest  mth  those  steel-lipped  mon- 
sters.   The  wire  is  fed  into  these  machines  from 

[  350  ] 


THE  SNAKE-CHAKMER  ECLIPSED 

a  coil,  and  at  the  other  end  nails  clatter  down 
like  corn  from  a  sheller. 

These  nails  are  packed  in  kegs  of  one  hundred 
pounds  each,  and  it  is  interesting  to  watch  the 
operation  of  the  highly  intelligent  machine  which 
does  the  packing.  As  the  nails  rain  down  from 
the  hopper,  the  machine  shakes  the  kegs  vigor- 
ously, and,  at  the  exact  moment  when  the  weight 
becomes  a  hundred  pounds,  it  raises  a  warning 
hand,  so  to  speak,  and  the  flow  stops  until  another 
empty  keg  slides  into  place. 

As  the  kegs  are  filled,  they  move  on  a  conveyor, 
receiving  the  top  and  certain  additional  fasteners 
as  they  go  forward,  and  presently  are  in  the  ware- 
house, where  the  weight  is  verified.  Then  they 
are  ready  to  catch  the  next  barge  for  the  Gulf, 
or  to  go  into  the  buildings  being  erected  in  the 
ever-growing  city  of  Birmingham.  These  kegs, 
by  the  way,  are  made  next  door  in  a  cooperage 
shop,  where  most  of  the  operations  are  automatic. 

But  the  most  amazing  part  of  this  establish- 
ment is  where  they  make  the  wire  fencing.  How 
these  big  machines  manage  to  take  spools  of  wire 
and  weave  them  into  beautiful  fence  patterns  is 
difficult  to  explain,  and  I  shall  not  attempt  it. 
They  turn  out  roll  after  roll  of  different  sizes 
and  different  patterns,  and  make  a  thorough  but 
noisy  job  of  it.     Barbed  mre  also  is  made  in 

[351  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

the  same  room,  though  the  barbs  are  not  so  long 
nor  so  sharp  as  when  the  great  spools  were  being 
sent  to  France  and  Belgium  to  form  entanglements 
for  the  Germans. 

All  of  the  wire  entering  into  the  fence  making 
department  is  galvanized,  a  process  that  involves 
heating  the  wire,  passing  it  through  an  acid  bath, 
and,  finally,  through  a  zinc  bath.  Large  quantities 
of  acid  are  used,  and  the  final  use  to  which  this 
acid  is  put  forms  an  interesting  story  in  itself. 
When  the  acid  has  lost  its  efficiency  in  the  plant, 
it  is  conveyed  to  great  vats,  where  all  sorts  of 
iron  and  steel  junk  is  thrown  into  it.  The  weak 
acid,  working  on  this  metal,  finally  exhausts  every 
atom  of  energy,  and  then  is  ready  for  the  produc- 
tion of  sugar  sulphate  of  iron.  This  chemical  is 
used  very  mdely  in  the  purification  of  water,  the 
output  being  absorbed  in  large  part  by  cities 
throughout  the  South.  It  also  has  numerous 
other  uses. 

Recreational  features  are  emphasized  strongly 
by  this  great  manufacturing  enterprise.  There  is 
a  band  of  fifty  pieces,  which  gives  periodic  con- 
certs at  noon-time,  furnishes  music  for  sundry 
events  in  neighboring  communities,  and  plays  in 
public  parks  from  time  to  time.  A  baseball  team 
is  maintained,  having  membership  in  the  league 
operated  within  the  Tennessee  organization,  and 
[  352  ] 


THE  SNAKE-CHAEMER  ECLIPSED 

there  are  numerous  other  forms  of  entertainment 
and  recreation. 

There  is  an  emergency  hospital,  a  physician  and 
a  corps  of  nurses,  and  the  big  hospital  of  the 
Tennessee  Company  is  available  for  the  ill  or 
injured.  Extraordinary  precautions  are  taken  to 
prevent  accidents,  three-fold  measures  being  pro- 
vided for  stopping  the  machinery  in  the  event 
some  one  gets  caught  in  the  wire,  or  is  otherwise 
imperiled. 

There  is  a  warehouse  a  thousand  and  eighty  feet 
long,  a  pattern  room,  where  is  stored  a  pattern 
of  every  piece  of  machinery  in  the  plant,  and  an 
immense  machine  shop,  where  parts  may  be  re- 
paired or  made,  whenever  breaks  occur. 

As  in  other  like  industries,  the  water  consump- 
tion is  enormous,  and  elaborate  provision  is  made 
for  conserving  the  supply.  After  being  once  used, 
it  is  caught  in  a  great  pump,  and  then  is  purified, 
filtered  and  made  ready  for  further  use.  In  this 
way  about  eighty  percent  of  the  fluid  is  saved. 

In  a  community  where  millions  of  gallons  of 
water  are  consumed  hourly,  an  adequate  source 
of  supply  is  essential  to  growth,  and  Birmingham 
is  fortunate  in  that  it  possesses  abundant  re- 
sources along  this  line.  For  its  own  industrial 
purposes,  the  Tennessee  Company  built  an  im- 
pounding reservoir  that  is  enormous  in  extent  and 

[  353  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

from  which  flows  normally  from  sixty  to  seventy 
million  gallons  per  day. 

The  regular  water  supply  of  Birmingham  is 
obtained  from  two  sources,  the  chief  source  being 
the  Cahaba  River,  where  a  great  dam  was  erected, 
forming  ^  ^  Lake  Purdy. ' '  The  water  is  beautifully 
clear  and,  when  it  reaches  the  consumer,  is  abso= 
lutely  pure.  In  fact,  the  excellence  of  Birming- 
ham's water  supply  constitutes  one  of  the  prime 
assets  of  the  city. 

In  designing  a  water  works  system  for  Bir- 
mingham, the  pioneers  displayed  again  that  bound- 
less faith  which  is  made  manifest  in  so  many  direc- 
tions. The  initial  plant,  upon  Village  Creek,  was 
started  about  a  year  after  the  incorporation  of 
the  city,  and  was  completed  in  1873,  the  reservoir 
having  a  capacity  of  1,000,000  gallons.  This  sup- 
ply was  far  in  excess  of  the  needs  of  the  hour, 
as  the  people  seemed  to  prefer  well  water,  or  to 
purchase  it  by  the  barrel  when  hauled  in  from 
nearby  springs. 

Like  the  early  furnaces,  this  water  works  system 
developed  into  a  white  elephant,  and  the  builders, 
the  Elyton  Land  Company,  finally  agreed  to  turn 
the  enterprise  over,  lock,  stock  and  barrel,  to 
Travers  Daniel,  provided  he  would  operate  it. 
Daniel,  visioning  a  life  of  ease  as  the  head  of  a 
great  public  utility,  seized  upon  the  offer,  and 

[354] 


THE  SNAKE-CHARMER  ECLIPSED 

took  full  cliarge  of  the  enterprise.  However,  the 
first  year  had  not  run  its  course  before  he  sent 
word  to  the  owners  that  at  the  close  of  the  twelve- 
months period  they  would  ^^have  to  feed  their 
own  elephant/^  and  Daniel  stepped  from  under 
on  December  31, 1874.  Major  W.  J.  Milner,  secre- 
tary of  the  company,  was  then  made  superintend- 
ent of  the  water  plant,  and  he  held  this  position 
continuously  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  building, 
in  the  meantime,  the  nucleus  of  the  magnificent 
system  that  is  in  existence  in  this  city 
today. 

With  the  growth  of  the  community,  there  finally 
arose  a  real  demand  for  water,  and  it  became 
necessary  to  enlarge  the  system.  In  acquir- 
ing additional  land  for  water-sheds,  it  became 
necessary  to  obtain  a  small  portion  of  a  480-acre 
farm,  the  owner  of  which  thought  he  saw  an  oppor- 
tunity to  dispose  of  his  place  at  a  fancy  figure. 
To  this  end  he  refused  to  sell  any  part  of  the 
property  unless  the  farm  was  purchased  outright, 
and  his  price  was  $10,000.  The  company  felt  that 
it  was  being  imposed  upon,  but  it  had  to  have 
the  property,  and  finally  paid  $9,900  for  it.  Later 
a  quarry  was  opened  on  this  farm,  there  being  an 
unusually  fine  deposit  of  limestone  thereon,  and 
the  amount  realized  from  this  quarry  was  many 
times  the  purchase  price  of  the  entire  property. 

[  355  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

The  farmer  had  unloaded  a  veritable  mint  upon 
an  unwilling  purchaser. 

While  plans  for  the  liberal  extension  of  the 
original  water  works  system  were  under  way,  and 
work  on  a  large  dam  actually  was  in  progress, 
the  growth  of  the  city  increased  with  such  rapidity 
that  the  necessity  of  finding  a  new  source  of  sup- 
ply, capable  of  much  larger  development,  became 
obvious.  Therefore,  work  upon  the  proposed 
30-foot  dam,  which  was  to  impound  the  waters  of 
Village  Creek,  was  stopped,  and  the  development 
of  the  present  system  began  upon  the  Cahaba 
River.  Then,  instead  of  a  reservoir  of  one  mil- 
lion gallons,  there  was  provided  a  reservoir  of 
over  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  million  gallons. 
Moreover,  abundant  provision  was  made  for 
future  extensions,  the  result  being  that,  that  by 
this  foresighted  policy,  Birmingham's  water  prob- 
lem was  solved  for  many  years  to  come.  The 
reservoir  today  has  a  capacity  of  1,500,000,000 
gallons. 

The  new  system  was  completed  in  1891,  since 
which  time  there  have  been  periodic  enlargements, 
until  today  it  serves  some  300,000  people.  At  this 
writing,  about  $500,000  is  being  expended  in  im- 
provements, the  larger  portion  going  into  dupli- 
cate pumping  machinery.  The  water  is  carried 
from  the  reservoir  to  the  filtration  plant,  from 

[  356  ] 


THE  SNAKE-CHARMER  ECLIPSED 

whence  it  is  piped  to  the  city  through  a  tunnel 
that  pierces  Red  Mountain. 

Originally  the  property  of  the  land  company 
that  founded  Birmingham,  the  system  has  been 
owned  for  over  thirty  years  by  the  Birmingham 
Water  Works  Company.  A  new  contract,  covering 
a  period  of  thirty  years,  recently  was  entered  into 
between  the  company  and  the  city,  under  which 
the  municipality  was  given  an  option  to  buy  at 
any  time  upon  giving  six  months'  notice  of  its  in- 
tentions so  to  do,  the  purchase  price  to  be 
$8,000,000,  or  $3,000,000  under  the  valuation  placed 
upon  the  plant  by  the  engineers  of  the  Public 
Utilities  Commission  of  the  State. 

The  fact  that  a  supply  of  water  sufficient  to 
meet  the  needs  of  a  city  of  nearly  a  million  people 
should  have  been  tapped  at  a  time  when  Birming- 
ham had  a  population  of  less  than  twenty  thou- 
sand, furnishes  another  striking  illustration  of  the 
fact  that  the  founders  of  the  city  had  boundless 
faith  in  its  future. 

The  dam  erected  to  impound  the  waters  of  the 
Cahaba  created  a  large  and  beautiful  lake  about 
twelve  miles  from  Birmingham,  and  it  furnishes 
one  of  numerous  fishing  resorts  about  the  city. 
Stocked  years  ago  with  bass,  brim  and  perch, 
it  affords  fine  sport  when  the  fish  are  disposed 
to  bite.    But  before  one  can  enjoy  this  sport,  he 

[  357  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

must  have  a  permit  from  Harry  Horner,  the 
Superintendent,  and  sometimes  I  suspect  that 
Harry  has  a  system  of  tipping  the  fish  off  about 
when  to  bite  and  when  not  to  bite,  for  they  act  in 
a  most  eccentric  manner,  leaping  joyously  at  the 
bait  upon  some  occasions,  and,  on  others,  ignoring 
it  with  cold  and  studied  indifference. 

There  is  another  large  artificial  lake  near  Birm- 
ingham where  those  who  fancy  gold  fish  might 
enjoy  themselves,  granting  the  management  would 
consent.  It  was  the  intention  to  stock  this  lake 
with  bass,  and  the  large  shipment  of  tiny  fish  that 
went  into  the  waters  was  supposed  to  be  bass, 
but  the  wires  had  been  crossed  somewhere,  for 
that  lake  is  stocked  today  "svith  gold  fish,  tens  of 
thousands  of  them,  and  when  a  ^^ school''  passes 
along  it  looks  like  a  streak  of  burnished  brass. 
But  catching  gold  fish  isn't  much  sport  at  best, 
save  for  the  cat  that  attempts  to  get  one  from 
the  bowl  on  the  center  table,  and  few  applications 
are  made  to  fish  in  these  waters. 

In  addition  to  developing  Birmingham's  splen- 
did water  supply,  and  developing  the  city's  most 
beautiful  thoroughfare  along  Eed  Mountain, 
Major  Milner  conceived  and  caused  to  be  built  the 
Birmingham  Belt  Railroad,  which  links  the  city 
with  many  of  the  most  important  enterprises  in 
the  district.    A  slender  man,  under  the  average 

[  358  ] 


THE  SNAKE-CHARMER  ECLIPSED 

height,  and  as  gentle  as  a  woman,  he  was  gifted 
mth  extraordinary  vision,  and  with  unusual  ca- 
pacity for  translating  visions  into  realities.  He 
died  early  in  1921,  having  lived  to  see  Birmingham 
grow  from  nothing  into  the  third  city  in  the  South 
in  point  of  population,  and  second  to  none  in  its 
potentialities. 

Major  Milner  and  his  elder  brother,  John  T., 
were  Southern  to  the  core,  and  were  proud  of  the 
fact  that  to  Southerners  was  due  the  major  credit 
for  building  the  South 's  great  industrial  center. 
John  T.  was  especially  vigorous  upon  the  subject, 
and  the  only  rebuke  I  ever  heard  of  his  giving  his 
younger  brother  w^as  once,  many  years  ago,  when 
he  learned  that  Willis  J.  was   reading  ^' Uncle 

Tom's  Cabin.''     ^^  Burn  the  thing  up  " 

was  the  injunction  of  John  T.,  and  thereupon  one 
copy  of  the  famous  war  story  passed  out  of  cir- 
culation. 

Another  veteran  of  the  War  of  '61-65,  who  had 
a  conspicuous  part  in  the  development  of  Birming- 
ham during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  was 
Major  E.  M.  Titwiler,  who  belonged  to  that  im- 
mortal body  of  youngsters  from  the  Virginia 
Military  Institute  who,  in  1864,  joined  the  army 
of  General  John  C.  Breckenridge,  and  a  few  days 
later  achieved  the  amazing  victory  at  New  Market ; 
a  victory  for  which  those  boys  were  thanked  upon 
[  359  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

the  field  of  battle  by  Colonel  Patton,  acting  under 
the  instructions  of  General  Breckenridge,  and 
following  which  they  were  called  to  Eichmond, 
there  to  be  reviewed  by  President  Davis  and  Gov- 
ernor Smith,  and  thanked  by  the  Confederate 
Congress. 

In  speaking  of  this  exploit,  Major  Tutwiler  tells 
of  the  precipitate  flight  of  a  number  of  negroes 
who  were  just  entering  New  Market  w^hen  the  bat- 
tle commenced,  and  in  this  connection  he  says  that 
this  would  have  suited  the  father  of  Polk  Miller 
to  a  ^^T/'  It  was  the  father  of  Polk  who,  on  the 
eve  of  the  battle  of  Manassas,  sent  his  son  a  letter 
reading  in  this  wise: 

^^Dear  Polk :  I  hear  that  you  are  likely  to  have 
a  big  battle  soon,  and  I  write  to  tell  you  not  to 
let  Sam  go  into  the  fight  with  you.  Keep  him  well 
in  the  rear,  for  that  negro  is  worth  $1,000." 

Capt.  Alberto  Martin,  after  whom  the  Martin 
School  is  named,  was  another  valiant  soldier  of 
the  Confederacy  who  helped  to  guide  the  infant 
city  through  the  shoals.  It  was  he  who  furnished 
the  legal  assistance  necessary  to  defeat  the  plans 
of  those  who  attempted  to  obtain  sole  possession 
of  the  site  of  the  proposed  city,  and  he  also  was 
conspicuous,  as  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature, 
in  bringing  about  the  means  of  escape  from  ^' car- 
pet-bag'^  government. 

[  360  ] 


THE  SNAKE-CHARMER  ECLIPSED 

Another  veteran  who  wore  the  gray  was  Colonel 
E.  W.  Rucker,  conspicuous  in  the  early  history  of 
the  city.  General  Rucker  was  wounded  and  taken 
prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Nashville  in  1864,  and  was 
the  recipient  of  unusual  courtesies  at  the  hands  of 
his  captors.  He  was  carried  to  the  headquarters 
of  General  Winston,  where  Colonel  Hatch,  of  Gen- 
eral Winston  ^s  staff,  gave  up  his  own  bed  to  the 
wounded  Confederate,  sleeping  on  the  floor  by 
the  side  of  General  Rucker  and  showing  him  every 
attention  possible.  Though  he  lost  an  arm  at  this 
time,  General  Rucker  became  a  two-fisted  fighter 
in  the  struggle  to  put  Birmingham  on  the  map. 

Joseph  F.  Johnston,  who  afterward  became 
Governor  of  Alabama,  and  then  went  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  was  another  of  the  veteran  group, 
as  was  Capt.  Frank  S.  White,  who  followed  John- 
ston in  the  Senate.  Another  was  Capt.  Ben  F. 
Roden,  founder  of  the  town  of  Avondale,  builder 
of  the  first  gas  works  in  Birmingham,  and  a  con- 
spicuous figure  in  the  financial  life  of  the  com- 
munity in  the  early  days.  Henry  F.  DeBardele- 
ben,  builder  of  furnaces  and  developer  of  mines, 
and  founder  of  the  city  of  Bessemer,  also  was  a 
Confederate  veteran,  and  there  were  many  others 
who  threw  into  the  work  of  city  building  the  same 
fine  spirit  of  courage  and  devotion  that  character- 
ized their  activities  upon  the  battle  field.     And 

[  361] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

their  fight   here   proved   anything  but    a    ''lost 
cause.'' 

That  these  men  were  not  unappreciative  of  the 
labors  of  ''Yankees''  who  came  among  them  when 
the  city  began  to  grow,  is  made  obvious  by  the  fact 
that  many  of  these  citizens  subsequently  were 
elevated  to  positions  of  preferment.  The  attitude 
of  these  Confederate  veterans  toward  those  who 
had  worn  the  blue,  and  had  served  under  the  Stars 
and  Stripes,  is  reflected  in  the  following  sentence, 
penned  by  Major  Milner  some  years  ago :  "Among 
those  who  accepted  our  invitation  to  come  to  Birm- 
ingham were  many  members  of  the  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  and  no  better  class  of  citizens  are 
to  be  found  anywhere.  I  wish  we  had  more  of 
them,  and  of  their  sons." 


[  362  ] 


CHAPTEE    XXV 


COMBINING  LOANS  WITH  LAUGHTER 


AS  a  rule,  humor  and  banking  are  not  as- 
sociated, yet  it  is  true  that  the  founder  of 
Birmingham's  financial  system  was  one 
of  the  greatest  wits  the  city  has  ever  known. 
Old-timers  still  chuckle  over  the  waggish  perform- 
ances of  Capt.  Charles  Linn,  who  established  the 
first  bank  in  the  new-born  community,  and  who 
demonstrated  his  faith  in  its  future  by  erecting  a 
three-story  building  of  imposing  architecture. 

Diagonally  across  the  street  from  this  building 
a  marsh  had  been  converted  into  a  park,  and  Capt. 
Linn  caused  a  high  flag-pole  to  be  erected  there. 
About  this  time  three  of  the  prominent  men  of 
the  town  had  taken  unto  themselves  wives,  the 
list  including  Dr.  Luman  S.  Handley,  Capt.  John 

[  363  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

C.  Henley  and  William  Berney.  Capt.  Linn,  ever 
zealous  of  the  growth  of  the  community,  an- 
nounced that  he  was  going  to  fly  his  flag  in  honor 
of  the  first  child  born  to  these  unions.  And  he 
did.  Moreover,  he  raised  it  when  the  second  child 
was  born,  and  when  the  third  came  into  the  world. 
He  raised  it  for  the  fourth,  and  the  fifth,  and  again 
sent  it  up  upon  the  advent  of  the  sixth.  Then, 
catching  these  fathers  together  one  day,  he  said : 

*^Look  here,  boys,  I'm  going  to  call  this  thing 
off;  you're  about  to  wear  my  flag  out!" 

In  celebration  of  his  sixty-seventh  birthday, 
forty  years  ago,  Capt.  Linn  gave  a  community 
** party"  in  Linn  Park,  and  several  copies  of  the 
hand-bill  which  carried  the  announcement  of  the 
affair  to  the  entire  population,  still  are  preserved. 
The  events  of  the  evening  were  set  forth  in  numer- 
ical order,  the  last  being  as  follows: 

'*7.  Concluding  with  the  eclipse  of  the  moon, 
which  will  be  seen  shortly  after  12  o'clock. 

*'In  case  of  rain,  the  above  's\t.11  be  postponed 
until  the  Monday  following." 

Happily,  for  observant  astronomers  in  various 
parts  of  the  country,  it  did  not  become  necessary 
to  postpone  the  eclipse. 

The  bank  founded  by  Capt.  Linn  is  today  the 
largest  in  Birmingham,  and  one  of  the  largest  in 
the  South.    It  was  from  the  presidency  of  this  in- 

[  364  ] 


COMBINING  LOANS  WITH  LAUGHTER 

stitution  that  W.  P.  G.  Harding,  Governor  of  the 
Federal  Reserve  Board,  was  called  to  Washington. 

The  next  financial  institution,  in  point  of  size 
and  age,  is  the  Birmingham  Trust,  founded  in  the 
early  days  by  a  group  of  financiers  which  included 
William  Rockefeller,  a  brother  of  John  D.  Rocke- 
feller. The  Rockefeller  stock  since  has  been 
acquired  by  local  interests.  This  bank,  now  the 
largest  bank  in  the  State,  is  erecting  a  splendid 
new  home  as  these  lines  are  written. 

The  Traders  National,  the  American  Trust,  and 
Steiner  Brothers,  are  the  other  down-town  banks. 
The  latter  was  founded  by  B.  Steiner,  now  of 
New  York,  who,  while  trying  to  do  something  for 
his  own  institutions  many  years  ago,  rendered  a 
great  service  to  the  then  struggling  city.  Coming 
into  the  possession  of  certain  city  bonds,  behind 
which  there  was  no  security  of  special  value,  he 
had  a  constitutional  amendment  submitted  by  the 
legislature  providing  that  Birmingham  might  levy 
a  special  tax  of  ^ve  mills  to  take  care  of  the  bonded 
indebtedness  of  the  municipality  incurred  prior 
to  1901.  This  made  his  bonds  gilt-edge  securities, 
since  the  money  derived  from  this  tax  brought  in 
a  very  large  sum,  with  the  continued  growth  of 
the  city.  Normally,  this  tax  would  have  expired 
with  the  maturity  of  the  Steiner  bonds,  but  it  was 

[  365  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

made  permanent  by  a  subsequent  amendment,  and 
became  applicable  to  all  bonds  of  the  city,  whether 
issued  in  the  past  or  at  some  time  in  the  future. 

This  tax  amounts  today  to  more  than  $500,000 
a  year,  and  gives  Birmingham  a  sinking  fund  for 
the  payment  of  interest,  and  for  the  redemption 
of  bonds,  that  places  the  credit  of  the  municipality 
upon  a  high  plane.  It  enables  the  city  to  pay  off 
all  bonds  at  maturity  and  to  meet  interest  charges 
the  moment  they  are  due.  Thus,  an  amendment 
passed  years  ago  to  protect  a  small  issue  of  bonds 
has  become  the  foundation  of  the  city's  financial 
strength. 

The  dean  of  Birmingham  bankers  is  Colonel 
T.  0.  Smith,  about  whom  one  hears  some  interest- 
ing stories  connected  with  certain  inside  happen- 
ings during  the  World  War.  During  those  times 
of  doubt  and  uncertainty,  the  fires  of  patriotism 
burned  brightly  in  this  city,  the  great  majority  giv- 
ing to  the  Nation  the  fullest  measure  of  support. 
But  there  were  a  few  whose  allegiance  was  else- 
where, and  they  started  out  to  make  all  the  trouble 
they  could  for  the  community.  Two  great  high 
school  buildings  were  burned  within  forty-eight 
hours,  and  one  of  the  largest  grammar  school 
buildings  was  set  on  fire,  the  loss  running  into 
thousands  of  dollars.  It  became  evident  that  a 
campaign  of  terrorism  had  been  launched  by  in- 

[  366  ] 


COMBINING  LOANS  WITH  LAUGHTEE 

ternal  foes,  and  instantly  there  arose  a  demand 
for  more  adequate  protection  against  this  sinister 
element. 

No  publicity  has  ever  been  given  the  operations 
of  the  organization,  but  it  is  known  that  a  society 
of  vigilantes  was  organized  and  that  it  rendered 
services  of  incalculable  value.  The  membership 
ran  into  hundreds,  embracing  the  most  representa- 
tive men  of  the  city,  and  it  became  a  powerful 
adjunct  to  the  law  enforcement  branches  of  the 
government,  City,  State  and  National.  The  cam- 
paign of  terrorism  was  nipped  in  the  bud,  and 
shortly  such  terror  as  existed  was  in  the  hearts 
of  the  alien  enemies  and  not  in  the  breasts  of 
patriotic  citizens.  Colonel  Smith  is  credited  with 
having  been  the  directing  head  of  this  thoroughly 
effective  organization,  an  organization  that  was 
ready  instantly  to  respond  to  any  call  at  any  hour 
of  the  day  or  night,  and  without  which  there  is 
no  telling  how  far  the  alien  enemy  would  have 
gone  in  his  campaign  of  wantonness. 

It  is  rather  odd  that  a  city  as  large  as  Birming- 
ham should  have  only  four  banks  in  the  down- 
town business  section,  but  the  absence  of  others 
may  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  several  large 
suburban  communities  have  strong  institutions  of 
their  own.  Ensley,  the  great  steel-making  suburb, 
has  two  banks.    There  is  one  at  Woodlawn,  one  at 

[  367  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

North  Birmingham,  and  another  at  Wylam.  The 
North  Birmingham  bank,  though  a  strong  factor 
in  the  industrial  life  of  the  community,  goes  in 
for  agricultural  development,  providing  to  farm- 
ers the  means  for  obtaining  fine  stock  for  breed- 
ing purposes. 

Building  and  loan  associations  are  not  so  numer- 
ous in  Alabama  as  they  are  in  nlost  states,  and 
Birmingham  has  but  three.  These,  however,  are 
powerful  institutions  and  have  had  an  active  part 
of  these,  the  Alabama  Home,  has  at  its  head  a 
in  the  upbuilding  of  the  community.  The  oldest 
man  who,  some  years  ago,  hung  up  a  record  for 
saving  that  is  unique.  A  boy  of  eighteen,  W.  V. 
M.  Robertson,  left  the  farm  and  went  to  Baltimore, 
where  he  worked  for  a  year  at  $4.50  a  week  — 
and  saved  a  part  of  this.  The  next  year  his 
salary  was  raised  to  $1,800,  and,  having  taken  a 
running  start  in  the  saving  game,  he  kept  up  the 
pace  by  putting  away  $1,387  that  second  year. 
This  sum  formed  the  initial  capital  of  a  business 
that  now  runs  into  the  millions.  It  is  an  actual 
fact  that  he  has  caused  others  to  save  millions  of 
dollars  and  has  been  responsible  for  the  erection 
of  thousands  of  homes  in  and  about  this  city. 

This  rather  unusual  case  is  cited  because  the 
theory  seems  to  have  gained  ground  that  it  re- 
quires huge  sums  of  money  to  accomplish  any- 

[  368  ] 


REAR   VIEWS   OF   HIGHLAND   HOMES 


COMBINING  LOANS  WITH  LAUGHTER 

thing  big  in  this  community.  There  are  so  many 
gigantic  enterprises,  with  capital  stock  amounting 
to  tens  and  hundreds  of  millions,  that  many  young 
men  appear  to  have  conceived  the  notion  that  they 
cannot  get  anywhere  unless  they  have  large  finan- 
cial resources,  forgetting  that  success  is  not  in 
the  multiplicity  of  dollars  one  has  to  manipulate, 
but  is  in  the  ability  to  keep  at  least  a  fractional 
part  of  each  dollar,  and  to  put  that  fraction  to 
work. 

There  literally  are  thousands  of  prosperous 
citizens  in  this  city  whose  prosperity  began  with 
the  habit  of  thrift,  and  today,  with  a  population 
that  is  growing  with  great  rapidity,  and  with  an 
ever  increasing  demand  for  things  needed  by  the 
human  family,  the  opportunities  for  men  of  small 
means  were  never  more  abundant.  It  requires 
vast  sums  to  build  and  operate  furnaces,  mines 
and  mills  on  the  colossal  scale  that  obtains  in  this 
district,  but  it  requires  very  little  to  start  a  small 
shop,  or  store,  or  similar  enterprise.  I  know  a 
man  who  came  here  a  few  years  ago  and  opened  a 
modest  retail  store  on  what  had  become  known  as 
a  '*dead''  corner.  His  establishment  is  one  of 
the  largest  in  the  State  today,  and  on  January  1 
he  begins  the  erection  of  a  building  that  will  be  the 
largest  of  its  kind  in  the  entire  South.  This  man 
is  L.  Pitzitz. 

[  369  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

Another  huge  mercantile  establishment,  known 
the  country  over,  was  started  some  years  ago  by 
a  trio  of  young  men,  Lovemen,  Joseph  and  Loeb, 
whose  chief  capital  consisted  of  vision.  Birming- 
ham ia  full  of  examples  of  this  character,  each 
bearing  witness  to  the  fact  that  large  results  can 
be  achieved  from  small  beginnings. 

Another  illustration,  in  a  somewhat  different 
line,  may  not  come  amiss.  A  few  years  ago  A.  W. 
B.  Johnson  was  running  a  small  cafeteria,  or  lunch 
room,  upon  the  top  floor  of  his  department  store. 
Out  of  this  incidental  venture,  conducted  on  a 
rather  unusual  basis,  grew  a  *  ^  chain '^  idea  which, 
when  put  into  practice,  grew  amazingly. 

Then  there  is  the  case  of  the  three  Blach  broth- 
ers, who,  from  a  small  beginning,  built  up  a  great 
retail  enterprise.  Only  a  block  away,  the  Saks 
brothers  did  the  same  thing,  and  the  Jacobs 
brothers,  on  the  same  street,  followed  suit,  as  did 
the  Burger  brothers  and  the  Caheen  brothers  — 
from  which  one  might  infer  the  brothers  pull  to- 
gether here.  R.  D.  Burnett,  the  smoke  from  whose 
cigars  would  look  like  a  house  afire  if  the  daily 
output  was  consumed  in  a  single  spot,  also  started 
at  the  bottom.  And  there  are  innumerable  others 
who  have  built  similar  enterprises  upon  a  large 
scale. 

In  the  industrial  field,  too,  there  are  any  number 
[  370  ] 


COMBINING  LOANS  WITH  LAUGHTEE 

of  instances  in  which  large  fortunes  have  been 
created  by  individual  initiative.  Major  E.  M.  Tut- 
wiler,  retired,  came  to  Birmingham  with  the  en- 
gineering crew  of  the  Georgia  Pacific  Eailroad, 
when  that  line  was  built  into  the  city,  and  made  a 
large  fortune  in  the  development  of  mining  enter- 
prises. Frank  Nelson,  Jr.,  started  at  the  bottom 
in  the  same  field  and  reached  the  top.  One  of  the 
greatest  lumber  enterprises  in  the  Southern  States 
was  built  up  by  John  L.  Kaul  from  a  modest  be- 
ginning, his  activities  being  largely  responsible 
for  the  fact  that  Birmingham,  though  primarily 
an  iron  and  steel  center,  is  one  of  the  leading  lum- 
ber markets  of  the  South.  Several  young  men, 
like  Thornton  Estes,  Mercer  Barnett  —  typical 
figures  among  the  newer  generation  —  are  headed 
in  the  same  direction. 

Ed.  Barrett,  once  one  of  the  right  hand  men  to 
the  great  Henry  Grady,  of  the  Atlanta  Constitu- 
tion, came  to  Birmingham  a  generation  ago  and 
caught  the  Birmingham  Age-Herald  as  it  was  tot- 
tering toward  bankruptcy,  and  made  it  a  highly 
profitable  enterprise,  doing  it  on  sheer  nerve. 
Victor  Hanson,  who  grew  up  under  Frank  Glass, 
on  the  Montgomery  Advertiser,  gained  control  of 
the  Birmingham  News  on  the  death  of  General 
Ehodes,  and,  with  limited  capital,  made  it  one  of 
the  most  prosperous  papers  in  the  country. 

[371  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIKMINGHAM 

In  every  line  of  human  endeavor,  similar  in- 
stances of  triumphant  success  might  be  recorded, 
illustrating  the  fact  that  in  Birmingham  oppor- 
tunity does  not  spend  all  its  time  pounding  on 
the  doors  of  those  who  have  unlimited  means. 

Another  interesting  fact  is  that  most  of  the 
directing  heads  of  the  great  industrial  enterprises 
in  the  Birmingham  district  are  men  who  fought 
their  way  to  the  top.  George  Gordon  Crawford, 
head  of  most  of  the  subsidiary  organizations  of 
the  United  States  Steel  Corporation  in  Alabama, 
had  no  monetary  advantage  over  thousands  of 
other  Georgia  boys  among  whom  he  was  reared; 
J.  W.  McQueen,  Vice-President  of  the  Sloss  Com- 
pany, worked  his  way  from  the  bottom,  and  C.  T. 
Fairbairn  of  the  Republic  Company,  James  Bow- 
ron  of  the  Gulf  States  Steel  Company,  G.  B.  Mc- 
Cormack  and  Erskine  Eamsay  of  the  Pratt  Con- 
solidated Company,  R.  I.  Ingalls  of  the  Ingalls 
Iron  Works,  Harry  Coffin  of  the  Alabama  Com- 
pany, and  numerous  others,  have  attained  top- 
most positions  mth  giant  organizations,  because 
they  had  something  in  themselves,  rather  than 
something  in  the  bank,  when  they  started. 

The  ice  and  cold  storage  business  has  attained 
enormous  proportions  in  the  United  States  during 
the  past  twenty  years,  the  growth  in  the  South, 
where  artificial  ice  is  used  exclusively,  having  been 

[  372  ] 


COMBINING  LOANS  WITH  LAUGHTER 

enormous,  and  one  of  the  national  figures  in  this 
development  is  a  Birmingham  man,  W.  J.  Rush- 
ton.  At  the  head  of  the  ice  manufacturers  for 
years,  he  contributed  as  much  as  any  one  man  to 
the  growth  of  the  industry  at  large,  and  built  up 
a  large  number  of  enterprises  of  his  own.  He,  too, 
started  here  on  the  lower  rung  of  the  ladder. 

Birmingham  is  a  city  of  warehouses,  some  of 
them  attaining  huge  proportions,  and  the  name  on 
the  greatest  is  that  of  ^'Harris.''  A  poor  farm 
boy,  George  C.  Harris,  oame  to  this  city  and  suc- 
ceeded in  making  large  plants  grow  where  none 
had  grown  before. 

G.  T.  Wofford,  who  had  only  limited  resources 
a  few  years  ago,  went  into  business  for  himself, 
marketing  a  fuel  mixture  of  his  own  invention. 
Today  his  filling  stations  are  found  all  over  the 
South,  and  the  number  is  multiplying  constantly. 

Newsprint  paper,  by  the  way,  soon  will  be  manu- 
factured in  this  district.  Discovering  vast  quanti- 
ties of  spruce  pine  upon  the  mountains  that  par- 
allel the  Warrior  River,  E.  W.  Barrett  conceived 
the  idea  that  it  might  be  suitable  for  making  paper, 
and  he  caused  a  quantity  of  it  to  be  sent  to  a  big 
mill  in  the  East,  where  it  was  converted  into  news- 
print. The  experiment  was  eminently  successful, 
and  Barrett  used  the  product  in  getting  out  his 
newspaper  here.     Now  plans  for  a  large  paper 

[  373  ] 


THE  BOOK  OF  BIRMINGHAM 

mill  upon  the  Warrior  are  rapidly  maturing  and 
soon  another  ** waste''  product  will  be  utilized. 

Spruce  pine  long  has  been  considered  a  worth- 
less growth.  Unlike  the  famous  yellow  pine  of 
the  South,  it  has  no  **hearf  to  speak  of,  being 
soft  and  having  little  power  of  resistance.  The 
quality  which  renders  it  useless  for  building  pur- 
poses makes  it  ideal  for  paper  making  —  a  dis- 
covery which  promises  to  become  the  basis  of 
another  great  industry. 

In  truth  and  soberness,  it  may  be  said  that 
Alabama's  industrial  development  is  in  its  in- 
fancy, in  spite  of  all  that  has  been  achieved  dur- 
ing the  past  half  century.  New  sources  of  wealth 
are  being  uncovered  from  time  to  time,  while  old 
sources  become  more  productive,  as  their  limitless 
extent  is  better  understood.  The  deposits  of  iron 
ore,  of  coal,  and  of  limestone  and  dolomite,  the 
chief  materials  in  steel  making,  are  so  vast  that 
it  will  be  many  years  before  men  need  concern 
themselves  about  possible  exhaustion.  Not  only 
so,  but  the  sources  of  power  for  the  utilization  of 
these  products  are  capable  of  being  developed 
upon  an  enormous  scale. 

Muscle  Shoals,  where  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment spent  nearly  a  hundred  million  dollars  in 
the  erection  of  air  nitrate  plants  before  work  was 
suspended,  is  capable  of  being  developed  into  one 

[  374] 


COMBINING  LOANS  WITH  LAUGHTER 

of  the  greatest  sources  of  water  power  in  the 
world.  The  Coosa  River,  whose  energy  now 
furnishes  power  to  cities  and  towns  in  all  parts 
of  Alabama,  is  capable  of  much  greater  develop- 
ment, and  there  are  numerous  other  sources  of 
energy. 

As  this  is  written,  Henry  Ford  is  endeavoring 
to  gain  control  of  Muscle  Shoals,  and  it  is  certain 
that  the  vast  energy  of  those  rapids  will  be  de- 
veloped if  he  comes  into  possession  of  the  enter- 
prise. Meanwhile  the  Alabama  Power  Company, 
which  has  one  plant  on  the  Coosa,  producing  90,000 
horse  power,  is  adding  to  its  developments  upon 
that  stream.  It  was  this  company  that  gave  to 
the  Government  the  Muscle  Shoals  site  when  the 
urgent  need  of  nitrates  arose  during  the  war. 

With  its  vast  mineral  deposits,  with  its  ex- 
traordinary resources  for  the  development  of 
hydro-electric  energy,  and  with  its  navigable 
rivers  flowing  to  the  Gulf,  Alabama's  future  is 
assured.  And  Birmingham,  the  chief  beneficiary 
of  these  natural  gifts,  should  become  one  of  the 
world's  greatest  centers  of  population,  and  thus 
fulfill  to  the  utmost  the  vision  of  that  little  group 
of  men  who,  fifty  years  ago,  entered  a  barren 
waste  and  there  laid  the  foundations  of  a  great 
city. 

[  375  ] 


t  376  ] 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 

APR  2  9  1958 

APR  2   9  RFQP 

tISSra.  «ARi9«) 

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5  1966  *^  to.j//H) 

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REC'D  104W 

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37 

FormL9 — 15m-10.'48(B1039)444 

THB  LIBEARY 
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■iniii  tti 

3  1158  00437  2628 


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